LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




0DDQ57_T__5 



_____ 












^sr 



*feV* 







♦'^•" A <. -f.?* A &* ^o, vffF A <, **£/?•* A 6* ^ 

~*o.1* A V ^ **T7^\A <a "*••**' a& *^ ♦'TV?* A < 




^°^ 



• #*** A.0 













:^V V' f - T *V* V 5 **^ v : — ; >* ' 



* «£» 4 



*oV* 



"^ 




*f. ?• A <^ V ♦?ST• , A <^ *f.T* A G^ \», *^7i* A 



>^ ♦•no AT 






%** v 



> ^ 













/%. 






*o. »* A V V *vT^ A C *••*• ^ ^ ♦'TVV A 












*bv* 





















v ^\ 






/ «*►' 



*0« 

^ * 



r-^rr* a 









v* 1 













• Ai'-'it. 

















++<t 



1 • o 














Yours Sincerely, 

MRS. JOSIE B. HALL, 

Authoress. 

Waxahachie. Texas. 




ARELLA THERESA HALT,. 

Bora Monday, September 5, 1904 



Ll8HARYof CONGRESS 
fwu Copies rteceivcj 



j 



MAY 15 iyob 

b-ot-, 2 3, tqo 
LASS «- XXc. Noi 

/ cy z %% 

COPY B. 



Copyright 1905. 
Class A. XXc, No. 107,288. 



HALL'S MORAL AND 
MENTAL CAPSULE 



FOR THE ECONOMIC AND 
DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE 



NEGRO, AS A SOLUTION 
OF THE RACE PROBLEM 



BY 

MRS. JOSIE B.HALL 

WAXAHACH1E, TEXAS 




Price, $2.00 



Agents will Send all Orders and 
Money for Subscriptions to 
MRS. JOSIE B. HALL, 
Mexia, Texas 



REV. R. S. JENKINS. 

Publisher, 

Dallas, Texas 









TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 



n 
iii 

v 



Dedication of the Book to the Cause of Christ 

Introduction 

The Authoress' Biography 

The Biography of Prof. J. P. Hall vii 

Brief Note of Eev. B. F. Watson x 

Causes Which Led Me to Write J 

A Moral, Mental and Physical Capsule 4 

Three Reasons 13 

A Doleful Prediction 15 

My First Poem 22 

The Negro Question, by Count Leo Tolstoi 24 

My Second Poem 20 

Education Will Solve the Race Problem 2? 

Home Atmosphere 41 

Heaven's Bank 40 

Faith, Hope and Charity 51 

Woman of Probity 54 

A Wrecked Home 04 

The Unfaithful Wife 07 

A Model Family in a Model Home 71 

A Plea for Higher Living 77 

God a Friend to the Negro !)() 

Parents Must Leave a Legacy 101 

Intemperance 102 ^ 

A Well Without a Curbing 108 

The Pinnacle of Fame 112 

Political Relation of the Negro 128 

True Greatness 137 

Biography of Prof. L. S. Simmons 144 

Biography of Rev. A. R. Griggs 147 



s 







4 

Pago. 

A Ramble Among the Flowers 151 

Woman's Rights 155 

Ethel Brown's Testimony 158 

The Mississippi River and Time 1GS 

Politics 172 

Supremely Power 175 

Build Your House Upon the Rock 17G 

Are We Loyal to the Stars and Stripes 17S 

What a Wonderful Progress 182 

An Ounce of Prevention 184 

An All Around Failure 187 

Success as Failure and Failure as Success 18H 

An All Around Success 195 

The Influence of Christian Education 196 

Come All the World 200 

Negro Enterprises 20." 

Our Guiding Star 205 

Soldiers for God, Happiness 207 

One by One 209 

Unity . 211 

The Sheep and Goats 214 

A Prayer 215 

The Sinner 217 

The Prodigal's Prayer 219 

Publisher's Outline of Dr. Jackson 222 

Let Us Hope, Music 2'ir, 

Sunday 227 

Publisher's Brief on Dr. D. V. Hooper 229 

Brief Outlines of Attorney McCauley 231 

Daily Questions for Self-examination 2."> I 

Thoughts for Different Nations 235 

Prof. H. S. Thompson, A. M., Commendation 23G 

Parting Words of the Publisher ?.'!? 



LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. 

Page. 

Mrs. Josie B. Hall, Authoress i 

Baby, Arella Theresa Hall ii 

Christ, to His Cause This Book Is Dedicated iii 

Dr. J. T. S. White iv 

Dr. Joshua V. B. Goins, Sr v 

Rev. G. W. Hill vi 

Prof. J. P. Hall vii 

Four of the Hall Children ix 

Dr. Benjamin F. Watson x 

Dr. H. P. Parks H 

Dr. A. N. Prince 23 

Prof. E. L. Blackshear, A. M 39 

Dr. W. J. Laws 32 

Dr. W. B. West 36 

The Hall Besidence 41 

Prof. R. S. Lovingood, A. M 42 

Miss Hallie Q. Brown 44 

Rev. Joshua V. Goins, Jr. i 50 

Mrs. E. E. Peterson 53 

The Groom and Bride 54 

Bishop Evans Tyree, D. D., M. D 55 

Mrs. Isabella Miller 58 

A Wrecked Home and Causes Presented 63 

Dr. B. E. Bluitt's X-Ray 66 

Dr. R. F. Boyd 69 

A Model Home 72 

Dr. E. W. Lampton 7-1 

Bishop Moses B. Salter, D. D., LL.D 78 

Mrs. Ollie L. Bryan, D. D., S 80 

Rev. W. H. Durden 83 

Dr. David W. Shields 84 

Mr. L. W. Walker (Lamented) S!) 

Our Savior Presenting an Invitation of Love 90 

Hon. N". W. Cuney, A. M. (Late) 9?, 



Page. 

Bishop Abraham Grant, D. D 9G 

Eev. H. T. -Johnson, D. D, Ph. D " 

Kev. M. W. Austin 104 

Prof. H. D. Winn 107 

The Well of Sin 10S 

The Well of Eighteousness 1] ° 

The Heroine of the Pinnacle of Fame, High Aim 11- 

The Heroine of the Pinnacle of Fame, Fixed Will 113 

The Heroine of the Pinnacle of Fame, Stand of Faith H r > 

The Heroine of the Pinnacle "of Fame, Strong Eesolution 113 

Madame All Ears Gadabout 1 -° 

The Heroine of the Pinnacle of Fame, Charity 120 

The Heroine of the Pinnacle of Fame, Culture 121 

The Heroine Peaches the Pinnacle of Fame, Amelioration 122 

Dr. B. E. Bluitt 127 

Hon. W. M. McDonald 129 

Hon. D. Eowen 131 

1J32 






Dr. F. A. Bryan 

Eev. David Abner, Jr., D. D 

Mrs. M. E. Jenkins 134 

Mrs. Charlotte Mae Dillingham (Lamented) 136 

Chaplain E. S. Lawrence *• 137 

Eev. John H. Collett, D. D 13S 

Eev. J. M. Anderson ,; 

Hon Lewis M. Mitchell I 40 

Prof. W. E. Ewing 1 ! " ? 

Eev. W. M. Leake, D. D 143 

Prof. L. S. Simmons 14j 

Mr. A. Honley 145 

Prof. Booker T. Washington, A. M. LL.D l 4a 

Eev. Allen E. Griggs, D. D ' ' ' 

Dr. C. A. Harris 148 

Prof. Archie A. Smith ' 1! ' 

A Bouquet of Admiration la0 







Pa erg. 

Dr. R. T. Hamilton 15] 

Prof. K W. Harllee, A. M 153 

Miss Sula Mae Porter 154 

Rev. M. D. Moody, D. D 1 56 

Rev. Moses Johnson 157 

Rev. A. G. Scott, D. J) 159 

Mrs. Ellen Bruce 160 

Dr. G. S. Moore 1g-| 

Rev. P. C. Hunt, D. D 16 o 

Mrs. Lula Kerr igo 

Rev. D. S. Moten, B. D 164 

Mrs. Addie Benson 155 

Rev. W. D. F. Pyle, D. D 1 6 

Rev. J. W. Rankin, D. D 170 

Rev. J. R. Melontree, A. B 177 

Rev. J. W. McKinney 1 80 

Rev. Z. T. Pardee 181 

Rev. W. M. Connor, D. D 189 

Rev. W. E. Adams 191 

Mr. S. W. J. Lowery 193 

Miss Celestine Grantt, B. S 196 

Attorney Ammon S. Well 198 

Rev. A. L. Handley 202 

Miss Susie Coleman on<? 

f*\j<j 

Miss Leoma Rowen 208 

Miss Hattie Mae Inoraham 919 

Miss Sadie Delia Hamilton 218 

Mrs. Oscar Thompson 210 

Rev. Alexander S. Jackson, D. D 222 

Prof. Austin Love 227 

Mrs. Annie A. Green ooq 

Dr. Dennis V. Hooper 229 

Rev. Abner Taylor 230 

Attorney A. J. McCauley 231 

Prof. H. S. Thompson, A. M 236 

Rev. R. S. Jenkins, D. D 237 



ii 



DEDICATION. 

To the memory of Christ, 
Who suffered, labored and sacrified 
To save the sinner and distressed, 
To save all nations that were oppressed; 
Who sits to-day upon his throne, 
Offering all who come to him a home ; 
Who inspired this the author to write, 
¥ And made it her delight 

To prepare this message for all. 
This volume is most humbly dedicated by Josie B. Hall. 

CHRIST. 

Behold Christ hanging on the cross, 

An emblem of love for thee. 
How can the sinners stand to see 

The crucified on Calvary 
And not believe ? 
With thorns encircling his brow 

And blood flowing from his side, 
To give all a right to eternal life, 

He hung on the cross and died. 



ill 

INTRODUCTION. 

I have cheerfully consented to prefix a few words of introduction 
to Mrs. Hall's treatise upon the problems confronting the Negro. I 
have read with interest so much of her manuscript as the many duties of 
a busy pastorate would allow. And while the reading public may not 
agree with some of the opinions herein expressed, yet it must be con- 
ceded that she makes a severe, and in the main, a strong, courageous 
indictment of the race. Her unflinching and fearless diagnosis is 
accompanied by a proposed remedy which I regard as both sound and 
sane, born of common sense and attested by the history of the rise of 
individuals and races. 

In these apprehensive and turbulent times the Negro is receiving 
much instructions along social and economic lines, some of which is wise, 
but much of which comes from the lips of novices who have more brass 
than brains, and more interest in self than in their fellows. 

The demagogue and the politician are all taking turns at guessing 
at the Negro problem. Every young and unpractised orator, every 
fresh and unseasoned collegian, every man called upon to address a 
Sunday School picnic, or Fourth of July celebration, wades fearlessly 
into the mysteries and intricacies of this much vexed question. 
Theories galore, and theories fine; solutions born of the keenest intel- 
lects and of the stupidest minds, are proposed every day in the week. 
But, "Like Bancroft's ghost, it will not down." Verily, theories will 
never solve the problem. It is an individual matter that must be worked 
out alone. 

The author has gone to the root of the matter in her own way in 
words simple and true. She has set the duties of the Negro before him 
in a clear and unmistakable light, placing them to themselves as in- 
dividuals and families. In this HI lie I realise is the clarion call of a 
woman's heart to manhood, purity, womanhood, chastity, self reliance 
and independence. He who has these is no problem, for out of these 
are the issues of life. 

The author does not profess to give an analytical and exhaustive 
treatment of the subject; nor does she essay an unusual fete in literature, 
word painting, picture hanging, or scene setting. The pyrotechnic is 
severely absent, but her pages are made to glisten by the humanity of 
the heart which speaks through them. It is a book for fireside use, 
for the husband and the wife, for the son and the daughter. I sincerely 
hope that it may find a wide and helpful reading. 

J. T. S. WHITE. 



IV 




REV. J. T. S. WHITE, B. D., D. D. 
Pastor of Bethel A. M. E. Church. 



THE AUTHOR'S BIOGEAPHY: 

Mrs. Josie B. Hall, the author of this book, was born ou the 17th 
day of September, 1869, in Waxahachie, Texas. Her parents 
were Tennie and Henry Briggs, both were industrious and pious. 
Her mother was a native of Tennessee, and her father was a na- 
tive of Kentucky. At the age of eleven years, Miss Josie Brig.gs 
was left an orphan, but she was left to the care of a kind 
and loving sister. The first beginning of her public career was a Sun- 
day-school teacher, at the age of twelve years. She was faithful in 
this capacity. The community loved, honored and respected her, be- 




REV. JOSHUA V. B. GOINS, M. D., D. D., 
Author, Presiding Elder,Brenham District, West Texas A. M. E. Conference. 

cause she w r as kind, modest and virtuous. She professed to 
know God in the pardon of her sins. at Bishop College, 
Marshall. Texas, in 188G. She early developed a strong desire for an 
education. However, through unfavorable circumstances, her education 
was not completed. When at the age of sixteen she began teaching public 
school, at Canaan, Texas, and was teaching there when she entered the 
matrimonial bonds with Professor J. P. Hall, in L888. Professor Hall 



VI 



was at that time one of the leading teachers of Mississippi, his native 
State. He is a normal graduate of Fish University, Nashville, Tenn., 
and is a man worthy of imitation. Their union has been blessed with 
five children, viz: Veralee Hall, 13 years; James L. Hall, 10; Theophi- 
lus Hall, 8 ; Thessie Arrilla Hall, 5 ; A. G. Hall, 1. Prof, and Mrs. Hall 
are interested in the education of their children, and are trying to 
train them for usefulness. Mrs. Hall taught school at Austin, Missis- 
sippi, in 1888 and 1889; Tunica, Miss., in 1890; Eay, Texas, Penton 
and 0. K., Mississippi, in 1891 ; Eay, Texas, in 1S92 ; Mexia, Texas, in 
1893, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1904. Her uncle 
and grandfather were the first Negroes to purchase land in Waxahachie, 
Texas, her native city. Her purpose in writing this book is one of the 
methods she has in helping her race. She is a great factor in the Sun- 
day-school, Church and Societies. 

Ere I close, I would say, 

Go forth, my friend, upon your way, 

Each obstacle despising, 

Prove by your efforts every day 

To all that we are rising! 

Respectfully, 

J. V. B. GOINS. 




REV. G. W. HILL, V. D. M. 
Pastor of the Baptist Church, Musko- 
gee, I. T. 



Tli 



Prof. J. P. Hall, son of Eobin and Katie Hall, was born and reared 
in Tunica County, Mississippi. He received his first instructions from 
his father and mother, who were very anxious that he should be well edu- 
cated. 

His second teacher was a little white boy, who was employed by 
his parents to give him lessons on Sundays. There being no public or 
private day schools in the community, he was placed in a night school, 
tuition $1 per month, which he attended two years, completing the sec- 
ond and third readers and making rapid progress in arithmetic, language, 
geography and spelling. 




J. P. HALL. 

Principal of Mexia Colored High 

School. 

Being apt, studious and obedient, he was in 1875 sent to the Le- 
moyne Normal Institute, Memphis, Tenn. Here his general deport- 
ment, love for study, punctual attendance to all duties, soon won for 
him the esteem and respect of teachers and pupils. He was one of the 
best scholars of his class. His oration delivered at the close of the term 
made a profound impression upon all who heard it. He was an active 
member of the literary societies and Sunday school. During this year 
he professed religion and joined the Church. In the fall of 1876 he en- 



viii , ; r i I • 

tered Fisk University at Nashville, Term, where, after a rigid examina- 
tion, he was placed in the junior class of the grammar school depart- 
ment, from which course a certificate of qualification to teach in the 
common schools is granted. He left school in April, 1877, to accept a 
position as assistant teacher in a district school in Tunica County, Miss., 
for which services he received a salary of $40 per month for five months, 
thus enabling him to return to Fisk in September with sufficient money 
to remain in school the next term. 

By careful and hard study during summer, he passed the required 
examination, entered his class, completed the course as one of its lead- 
ing members. Thus he became self supporting in his education. 

He taught school in Hardeman County, Tennessee, in 1877-78, re- 
ceiving for eight months service an average salary of $28 per month. 

On account of the prevalence of yellow fever and other unfavorable 
circumstances over which he had no control, prevented his return to 
Fisk in September of 1878, but he went south in October, and spent 
three months in Alcorn Agricultural and Commercial College, January, 
1879, he was elected principal of a school in Claiborne County, Miss., 
at $46 per month, for five months; but after three months satisfactory 
work in this school he resigned to accept the principalship of Indian 
Creek graded school, Tunica County, Miss., where he continued to teach 
until August, 1881. 

In September of that year he returned to Fisk University where 
he continued to pursue his studies, completing the Advanced Normal 
Course in 1884. 

Teaching being his chosen labor, he has steadily followed that pro- 
fession since his graduation. Taught three months in Arkansas, three 
in Mississippi and twelve months in Texas during 1884, 1885 and 1886. 

In September, 1886 he was chosen principal of Tunica graded 
school, Tunica, Miss., where he remained until September, 1891, when 
he resigned to accept a position in the Colored High School, Waxahachie, 
Texas. 

By recommendation of Elder W. E. Carson and Eev. A. M. Gregory 
he was elected, November, 1892, principal of Mexia High School, which 
position he has held ever since, being re-elected May 30, 1904. Prof. 
Hall is possessed of high moral qualifications, at all times cool and con- 
servative. The publisher of this volume has profound respect for his 
high Christian graces, and all he has seen and know of him is product- 
ive of the highest good for humanity. Prof. Hall stands in the front 



IX 



ranks as a teacher, a law abiding citizen, an affectionate husband and 
a loving father, that-has provided -well for his "highly 'interesting' family 
that adorn these pages ; and as we hail from the same State, we wish for 
the book a reading from the public and a great reward for its authoress 
so richly merited by her massive brains and assiduous labors to place it 
before the public. R. S. JENKINS, Publisher. 




FOUR OF THE HALL CHILDREN. 
Edward Theophilus, Miss Veralee, James L. Ammiel Gamaliel. 



Rev. Benjamin F. Watson, D. D., born in Missouri, 1848, entered 
the United States Army in 1863, converted 1869, entered the A. M. E. 
ministry in 1870, elected Chaplain of the Colorado State Senate 1876, 
elected secretary of education by the general A. M. E. Conference 1880. 
6ecured the right for the Western A. M. E. University in Kansas, served 




as an appointee, secretary of Church Extension, appointed by Dr. W. 
B. Derrick 1891. Presented the present law of the Church Extension 
of the A. M. E. Church in 1892. Elected Secretary of Church Exten- 
sion of the A. M. E. Church in 1900. Re-elected Secretary of Chnrcn 
Extension Department of the A. M. E. Church, 1904. 



CAUSES WHICH LED ME TO WRITE. 

In undertaking a task so difiicult and so important as that of writing 
a book on the solution of the Negro Problem, I feel it my duty to state 
the causes which led me to undertake it. 

I write to show my people the cause of part of their oppression, mis- 
fortune and misery; and to instruct them what to do to better their 
condition. 

I was not just now aroused to a sense of duty. For quite a while 
I have been impressed and annoyed with the thought that I was bound in 
duty to do something to aid the progress of my people. 

I do not write because I feel so competent, but because I am inspired 
to do so. Hence, I shall do the best I can; for I feel that God is in the 
plan. 

This is not my first effort ; about seven years ago I had almost com- 
pleted a book, subject, Precious Thoughts of the Present and Future, 
when it was destroyed by fire. I became so despondent over this misfor- 
tune I did not feel encouraged to make another effort until about three 
years ago, at which time I began this work. 

From a child, I have been inspired to work in the interest of the 
race. When I was ten years old, I would go to different houses in this 
city, and get old people to attend Sunday-school. 

I have taught school seventeen years, and during that time I en- 
deavored to impart knowledge as best I could, for I enjoyed the work, 
and have seen a noteworthy advancement which is evidenced by the 
positions that some of my pupils are filling. 

But failing to see the desired advancement morally, I began to 
search for the root of the error, and tried as best I could to bring about 
the desired change. 

Therefore I would frequently turn the system of the school work 
into a moral lyceum. 

For I was confident of the fact that mere school education alone 
could not raise the race to the proper moral standard. 

I looked at this side of affairs too serious ; hence, I couldn't rest for 
the desired progress; finally, I began to feel the effect of the pressure 
of that desire. I didn't mind the months of patient labor, but what 
crushed my ambition was this: I seldom saw one of the plants, that I 
had handled with so much care, bloom into pure character; and sadder 
still, some of the flowers were nipped off by the cold frosts of selfishness 
and rudeness, just about the time I thought their minds would opeD 
their petals and become flowers of admiration. 



2 CAUSES WHICH LED ME TO WRITE. 

Therefore, as I looked at blighted possibilities, the thought came to 
me that the most careful instruction would fail to eradicate some of the 
faults imbedded in the child's nature by its parents. 

Then another thought came to me, that I could do more good by 
reaching the parents through the children, and in this way there would 
be an improvement in the homes. Thus sending out boys and girls to 
better the schools, churches and societies. And I thought by teaching 
the parents the lesson of duty, I could admonish them to help save the 
youths of the race from destruction. 

Therefore the parents must learn the lesson of how to train their 
children now and very speedily. For if the youths continue downward 
at the present speed, the future promises to be a dark one. Observation 
had taught me that the race had advanced wonderfully in wealth and in- 
tellectual education, for this was evidenced by beautiful homes, and a de- 
crease in illiteracy. 

Then I asked myself this question, Is there equal progress in moral 
education commensurable with that of illiteracy? The answer came 
to me that it was not. And I saw that a true moral system could not 
be fixed in the children's minds without the assistance of the parents. 
Oftimes after I would leave the schoolroom my mind would ferment 
with different methods as how best to serve my people; nor could I 
content myself with any other thought, except that of trying to help 
check the gait of their speed downward, and do something to help them 
travel upward. I saw that the race had been trampled, stigmatized, op- 
pressed and discouraged so much, until it had but a very little ambition 
left to go forward and upward. Then, after looking into the matter deeper 
I discerned that effeteness had begotten poverty, poverty immorality, im- 
morality vice, vice crime, and crime illness. 

On discovering the illness of the race, I at once fixed upon a resolu- 
tion, for which it is probable I may incur criticism. However, I leave to 
your better judgment as to what will be said, and as to the fate of this 
medicine that I have prepared to put the race in a healthful develop- 
ment, and make it happy, prosperous and progressive. 

Perhaps some of you will act wise, take it by directions, and be 
benefited thereby; of course some will lay it on their shelves, and not 
use it, as they have done other medicines; and others will suffer and 
refuse it, simply because it's hard to swallow. 

Knowing that some of the most valuable medicines have been re- 
fused by patients, I shall not trouble myself as to its fate, but with 



CAUSES WHICH LED ME TO WRITE. 3 

patience hope for goodly results of my first effort in a booklet. As it is my 
design to make you wiser and better, I shall send out this matter of fact 
in the name of a capsule. 

May it inspire you to nobler, grander and more courageous deeds, 
for you will find it to be the life blood of your spirits. 

Now I , soulf ully send these pages forth with peace and good will to 
the race, and hope that they will aid the cause of morality, education, 
Christianity and righteousness throughout the world. 




REV. H. B. PARKS, D. D., 

General Secretary and Treasurer of Home and Foreign Missions, Editor and 
Publisher of the Voice of Missions, New York, N. Y. Dr. Parks is a 
prominent clergyman, and in line for the Bishopric May, 1908, in the 
A. M. E. Church. 



A MORAL, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 

I see that the race is ill, hence I have dissected the carcass of its 
nature, and made a profound diagnosis of its constitution and disease. 

But as I look upon the skeleton, the bones of its moral relations, so- 
cial relations, and conditions, stand before me in horrid deformity. 

As the bones are essential to the support of life, I thought it neces- 
sary to observe them first. 

The skeleton is the framework of the body, and is composed of 
bones of various sizes and shapes, known as long, short, flat and ir- 
regular bones. However, I have given them the following names: The 
long bones act as levers and sustain weight. Hence I have named them 
characteristics and character. 

The short and irregular ones give solidity, strength and protect the 
delicate organs. Hence I have named them method, intellect, hon- 
esty and wealth. 

The flat ones are like the shoulder blade. Hence I have named them 
habits of position. 

Now, I claim that the bones of characteristics, character, method, 
intellect, honesty, wealth and habits of position of the masses are in 
an abnormal and crooked condition. These deformities have been brought 
on by requiring children to sustain the weight and responsibilities of 
life too early ; by losing opportunities, carelessness, dishonesty, disobedi- 
ence, and false positions. 

However, I have selected the very best course of medicine that I 
could find in the drug-store of wisdom, to relieve the sufferer, and restore 
health and vigor. 

Now I feel it my duty to the race to lay open the true causes of 
its disorders , and compound a remedy that can effect a cure, however 
unpalatable it may prove to the readers. 

Nature itself has instructed humanity that diseases are prevalent 
in the land, and medicine is very necessary for the purpose of restoring 
health. 

The illness of the race is so full of interest and includes such a 
broad field of thought, that its full discussion would be impossible within 
the scope of this volume. 

However, as my mind is stirred with ideas, thoughts and facts, con- 
cerning one of the gravest problems that face the nations, I shall en- 
deavor to mix as many of them as I can id their proper relations to 
each other, and press them into this capsule. 



MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. » 

Thus with all of my imperfections and with all of my fears, I have 
taken upon me the responsibility of administering medicine to the needs 
of my people. 

Yes ! my people — descendants of Ham, and a race whose blood is as 
impure, and habits are as corrupt, as that of any people ever recorded 
in history. 

Diseases which may be imparted from one person to another are 
known as infectious diseases. Infectious diseases are carried in different 
ways. They can be communicated by actual contact with a diseased per- 
son; they can be conveyed by touch; they can be conveyed by air; they 
may be carried by water; they may be carried by clothes, and in some 
instances the germs live in certain districts, and only affect the people cf 

that district. 

Through a careful analysis of the race I have discovered that the 
majority of Negroes' minds and hearts are affected with, one of these in- 
fectious diseases, which is pulling them back instead of forward. 

As there can be no effect without a cause, I have compounded a cap- 
sule to remove the cause, by purifying the blood and regulating the 

habits. 

'Tis true that as a race we are morally and intellectually weak. This 
unwilling acceptance of conditions, in many instances springs not alto- 
gether from a wicked desire. But I feel that many of the vices of our 
people are brought about from a lack of knowing how to find a remedy. 

Hence, I have mixed and rolled a series of valuable ingredients to- 
gether, the object of which is two-fold, to make a better people and solve 
the Negro problem. 

This capsule has many peculiar features, therefore it's probable that 
it may show much fluctuation in opinion and sentiment. But it has 
been carefully compounded for the soul, body and mind, so as to mould 
character, restore health, brighten the intellect, and teach you how to 
prepare yourself for a place to rest. 

It also has power to enter the body and mind, and correct faults, 
hence one should be in the home of every family, so as to excite their 
nerves to make an effort to better their condition. 

You will find this capsule to be a mental, moral and physical re- 
storer, which performs the mission of a purgative, to remove the innu- 
tritious burden of mistakes that is keeping the race sick. And after 
cleansing the system it will feed the brain with the oxygen of thought 
and make the blood rich. 



6 MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 

Therefore I am keenly alive to its eminently practical, as well as its- 
morally ennobling effects, and take -this method of sending messages' of 
healing to the afflicted of my race. 

This remedy will be effectual if taken by directions. 

Take one every time your conscience tells you that you're wrong, and 
you will find it to be an elixir. This moral, physical and intellectual 
medicine will do all good. 
Who read it, and would 
Adhere to the teachings that it contains; 
What wonderful blessings they would gain ! 
Now if you'll accept the teachings of this volume, 
Christ will solve the Negro Problem. 

As my intentions are for the good of my people, I do not believe that 
you can peruse these pages without seeing and regretting the condition 
of the race. I write without selfish motives, but with noble ends in 
view. I write without censuring my people harshly, but shall endeavOr 
to state plain facts. For when I look upon my family, my friends and 
my race, I consider them, what they really are — Negroes in color and 
disposition. Then I ask myself this question : "What has the future in 
store for them?" 

One moment I seem to be bouyed up with a hope, that is, when 1 see 
some of them filling high positions, when I see them preparing them- 
selves for life's battle, and when I see them living lives of usefulness 
and integrity; at the next, complex emotions fill my breast, that is, when 
I look into the slums, alleys and saloons. Then when I compare them 
together, the future looms up before me as a sealed book, with these 
words inscribed thereon: "You can not know my contents until I am 
opened by time." 

Then, for fear that the race will continue to cavil away its time 
in folly and ignorance, I wish for power to force it to accept the pres- 
ent opportunity, and advance in wisdom, virtue, honesty and industry;, 
but the task is too hard for my slender abilities. 

However, I feel that I have power to do good in this way, though I 
am conscious of the fact that such work as I have undertaken, might 
have employed the pen of a much better writer, 

But as I have found out the needs of my people, and what must 
be done to raise them to a higher civilization, I have the fond hope of 
winning their zealous assistance in lessening crime and helping the cause- 
I have so much at heart. 



MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 7 

I can not but believe that the cause for which I feel inspired to write 
will prevent you from tarrying in darkness, and-will move you to strug- 
gle for enlightenment. 

The race is not only affected with infectious diseases, but some of 
them are inherited. Hence the illness of the race has not been brought 
about altogether by the present generation ; but as far back as history re- 
cords our ancestors have been affected with taints of impure character; 
therefore many impurities have been handed down to the present gener- 
ation as a legacy. 

I have studied the children at their play, and find them as other 
children ; I have studied them in the schoolroom, and find that they make 
rapid progress, both mentally and morally, for a few years. 

Yes; this progress is only of a short' duration, for they soon learn 
to pattern after the fashion of the age, and degenerate into its vices and 
corruptions. 

Some of the children have inherited diseased minds from parents 
or grandparents, and show signs of them when they enter their teens. 
Finally, those whose minds are affected by inheritance, home atmosphere 
or surroundings, have an inclination to give up ; they begin to fall short 
of individual ideals; in fact, they seldom have ideals higher than that of 
their parents. 

Therefore, while conscience is pointing upward, their little hearts 

plunge downward in despair. 

Though I have failed in some of my undertakings, I am not content 
to sit in slothful ease. 

"The old foxes have eaten sour grapes, and the young ones' teeth are 
on edge." You see that the children have taken on the habits of their 
parents. 

Now I sincerely hope that all of the ingredients of this medicine will 
cut their way to the very heart's core of the parents, and quicken their 
consciences with the sense of duty. 

It is the aim of this capsule which has spread itself out into the form 
of a book to present the main facts of the race, in a way to attract and 
interest your minds, encourage an effort for right, incite progressive ac- 
tivity, stimulate- an interest in education,- develop Jieal thy thoughts, afford 
aid and guidance, give you a sympathetic appreciation of the develop- 
ment of your children's lives and character, and to solve the Negro Prob- 
lem. 

The problem of which I speak is as old as the Negro race, and as 



8 MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 

young as the baby born to-day, but the- solution of it would be easy enough 
if reason, thought and work were applied to it. 

How can it be solved? Perhaps you would like to have a definite 
answer. I would not attempt to answer this important question without 
basing my remarks on the Word of God. 

"He says, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be 
my people; and walk ye in all the ways I have commanded you." (Jere- 
miah vii. 23.) 

When our lives come into harmony with the will of God, He will 
come to our rescue. But as long as we live in sin, linger on it, cherish it, 
taste it and love it, the blessed Savior will permit other nations to tram- 
ple us under foot. 

The race is not living according to the will of God ; but if it would 
put away its abominations, there would not be enough power on earth 
to move it. 

Christ will not say, Follow me ! 

And then allow us to sink in the sea 

On which we have ventured at his command, 

And are relying on his upholding hand. 

But when the race obeys the Word of God, and is raised to the prop- 
er standard, with an educated moral sense, intellectual sense, and physi- 
cal sense, it will be one that other nations will respect, in the moving 
panorama of life. 

Now I hope that each of you will be imbued with the conviction of 
the great and urgent importance attaching to the cultivation of the heart, 
mind, soul and body. 

"Hear, earth ; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the 
fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, 
nor to my law, but have rejected it." 

"Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold I will lay stumbling blocks 
before this people, and the fathers and sons together shall fall upon 
them; the neighbor and his friends shall perish." (Jeremiah vi. 19, 21.) 

In these chapters he whispers words of warning to disobedient and 
rebellious nations. 

The testimonies of the Scripture inclosed in the above verses are 
sufficient for my purpose, and most abundantly confirm my answer on 
the solution of the problem. 

The hate, the malice, the revenge and the prejudice, all seen, all 



MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 9 

heard and all felt by us every day, make us trembie beneath their tread, 
and wonder if Christ sees them. 

Yes, Christ sees everything, and permits such things to happen to 
disobedient and rebellious people. 

Knowing that the race is not living according to the will of God, 
I fear and tremble over its future; and I think that the better class of 
our people should here and now set their faces against everything and 
everyone who will not come up to the lofty standard of right action. 

This problem has engrossed the faculties of some of our wisest men, 
and many crafty brains have been applied to the task of its solution. 

From the day we were given our present complexion until now, we 
have had difficulties too weighty for us to comprehend. Even history 
tells us that we are an unfortunate people. 

Comparatively speaking, we have but few racial events of our an- 
cestors recorded in history to feel proud of. What can be more sad 
than our history? However, we are aware of the fact that many noble 
and heroic deeds performed by them have been recorded in the book 
kept above, and written on pages that can not be destroyed by man. 

Our minds are often filled with much of the painful recollections of 
slavery, mingled with much of the wrongs of the present, and with 
much of discouragement over the future. 

Hence, when the disturbances bring on sad remembrances of the 
past, a state of despair over the present, and a state of despondency 
over the future, our minds are filled with pity mingled with indigna- 
tion. 

But I believe that if we follow the command of God, He will bring 
about the desired change in due season. Though the present condi- 
tion of the Negro is entertaining the minds of millions, indeed, I have 
discovered rays of hope. For when our lives come into harmony with the 
will of God, He will supply strength to the weakness of our endeavors 
and deliver us. 

Though there are times, whilst traveling the rugged pathway of 
life, when our individual efforts seem fruitless, when the evil of our 
race seems very strong, its growth persistent, and times when the sense 
of weakness, failure and discouragement are overwhelming. But amid 
the distractions of life we must keep Christ before us, as did the chil- 
dren of Israel; and He will deliver us. 

The race is suffering with many ills which remedies have failed to 
cure, and which have baffled the skill of wise men. But all of the 



10 MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 

besetments of the past, the difficulties of the present, and the promises 
of the future have been squeezed into this little capsule, to roll over 
the tongue of every Negro, to be seized by the muscular bands of his 
throat, captured by the fibers of the esophagus, absorbed by the stom- 
ach, taken into the current of blood, and to glide on — and on — until it 
reaches the central organ of the circulatory,- system,. the, heart, and the 
heart will send it out through- the arteries and capillaries in order that 
it can permeate the whole system, and counteract the disease. 

Then, after it has been assimilated and transmitted into the ele- 
ments of your character, there will be prosperity and progress in the 
race. 

It will bring the emancipation of womanhood and the freedom of 
manhood. 

Through it's power it will scatter education in its path, so that you 
can bear the torch of enlightenment. Then other races can behold the 
radiating light held up by the Negro, and open avenues for him that 
are now closed. 

After removing impurities, and regulating habits, it will bulge out 
as some great force, and solve the greatest problem of the twentieth 
eentury. Now, if you do not believe that this capsule can cure the ills 
mentioned, and solve the problem, consult the wonderful old homeo- 
pathic doctor, Time, and he will tell you that it is a panacea for every 
HI of the race, and will do all it promises. 

May this capsule bring with it new life to the race, heroic woman- 
hood and stalwart manhood, virtuous girls and industrious boys, worthy 
parents and better born children. 

May this capsule which has spread itself out into the form of a 
book, wind its way into the different homes, so as to guide the young 
and entertain the old. 

May it inspire the readers to noble, grand and courageous deeds, 
for you will find it to be a guide. 

And may this capsule inspire the sinners to go to Christ, who puri- 
fies the soul with His own precious blood, and carries with Him its 
only remedy. 

God and the Negro can solve the problem 
That urged me to compose this volume. 
Perhaps this work you'll criticise, 
And think my views are unwise. 



MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 11 

However, they are not unprecedented, 
For other nations will be relented 
If the race will only obey God's voice. 
And in His holy name rejoice. 

It matters not how much they hate, 

No power can the race relegate, 

Unless God wills it to go 

From the land of the foe. 

For He is God, and He is just; 

And all people must 

Bow in humble obedience to His will, 

For the sayings of the Bible He will fulfill. 

If the Negro is frustrated and froward, 
He may expect the problem to be hard 
To solve or understand. 
But if he'll only obey God's command 
He will not only abash those that are wrong, 
But he will abate the mighty and strong. 
Other nations should banish things that cause God's dis- 
pleasure, 
For when He pays He gives full measure. 

Christ says ask and it shall be given; 

Then need the race suffer to be riven ? 

No ; but the colored people should stand together, 

And should not stop to inquire whether 

This factor or that should be involved. 

For the problem will be solved 

If the race trusts God and obeys His voice; 

It can go on its way and rejoice. 

Oh what a pity ! 

There's always a hurly-burly in some city 

About the Negro and his imperfection, 

And as some have an objection 

To his ways, they become obdurate 

And say that they hate 



12 MORAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL CAPSULE. 

The Negro, and desire his relegation 
To another country or station. 

Provocation causes outrage and often incites 

People to do things that are not right. 

Hence the race should be cautious and pure ; 

Then if others put upon it wrong that's hard to endure, 

It should be patient and wait 

Until they meet their fate, 

For the God of all nations is just, 

And in Him all should trust. 

Fear Him; for He can 

Destroy the world with man. 

Be provident and God will bless, 

Though you be in poverty and distress ; 

Others will your honor concede 

And will not try to impede 

Your progress; if you'll 

Follow the principles of this capsule. 

And I pray that its teachings will go 

Through the system of every Negro, 

And I hope that the race will reclaim 

Lost opportunities, and try to gain 

Confidence, a good name, and respect. 

Then Christ will protect 

The Negro. For when the race obeys His commands 

He will enable it to stretch forth its hands. 



13 

THREE REASONS. 

For three reasons I claim that the time has not arrived for the 
solution of the Negro problem. 

The first is a moral reason; through degrading circumstances the 
degeneration of the race has been brought on, hence the moral status is 
not what it ought to be. 

That we have hundreds of moral men and women, is an undisputed 
fact, but the masses must be more moral. 

We can see signs of a sturdy moral growth and we possess moral 
strength, but we have not had time to grow as morally strong as the so- 
lution requires. 

The second is an intellectual reason. As the education of the 
masses is one of the most important factors in the solution, we need 
more intellectual strength. 

Negro education has furnished us with hundreds of qualified preach- 
ers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, statesmen and other professions; but the 
thirty-eight years of freedom is not the time required to furnish the 
necessary number of intelligent and qualified Negroes required for the 
solution. 

The third reason is a financial one. Despite the fact that the finan- 
cial progress has been about as wonderful as that of any race ever chron- 
icled in history, taking eve^hing into consideration, and despite the 
fact that it owns seminaries, universities, churches, beautiful homes,.large 
farms, publishing houses, banks, drug stores, ice houses, boats, stock, 
stores and have about $950,000,000 worth of real and personal property, 
yet in still the thirty-eight years have not given to the masses, the land, 
stock, money and homes that's required for the solution. 

Every Negro who is doing his best is to that extent a success and a 
help to the common good of the race; and every one who is not doing 
his best, is to that extent an injury to its progress. 

To me, it is perfectly clear that if the race fails to change its posi- 
tion, it must continue to receive the same respect now accorded it. But 
if it makes the proper improvement, morally, intellectually and finan- 
cially, it must and will receive the proper recognition as a citizen; for 
these prerequisites will break down the barriers. No, it will not be time 
for the solution until the requirements mentioned take effect into the 
lives and homes of a few more men and women. 

The noble ones that the race looks upon with so much pride, is not 
sufficient. The problem is a large one, hence the solution requires thou- 
pands of spotless wives, mothers, sisters, and strong men. 



14 THREE REASONS. 

However, the race need not grow impatient as long as there is a 
Mary B. Talbert, a Lena Mason, a Josephine Yates, a Lena T. Jackson, 
an Ariel Bowen, a Eosetta Sprague, a Mary Church Terrell, a Rosa D. 
Bowser, a C. C. Petty, an E. C. Smith, a Paul Dunbar, a J. T. Hewin, a 
J. M. Cox, a Bishop Clinton, a J. W. Cromwell, a J. B. L. Williams, a 
M. W. Gilbert, a E. P. Wyche, a G. M. McClellan, a W. I. Lewis, a 
J. D. Davis, a J. Q. Johnson, a Nathan B. Young, an E. C. Morris, a D. 
J. Jordan, a J. S. Flipper, a G. A. Goodwin, an E. M. Brawley, a John 
R. Hawkins, an A. U. Frison, a B. H. Peterson, a C. H. Turner, a Geo. 
W. Murray, a T. Thomas Fortune, a Geo. H. White, a W. F. Penn, a R. 
F. Boyd, a R. W. Thompson, a D. Webster Davis, a Walter W. Wallace, 
a Bishop Turner, a Bishop Salter, a D. W. Onley, a Bishop Holsey, a H. 
L. Walker, a R. L. Lovinggood, a T. W. Talley, a Bishop Hood, an E. L. 
Blackshear, a H. P. Cheatham, an Arthur Richards, a W. D. Chappelle, 
a W. H. Councill, a Sterling N. Brown, a J. H. Anderson, a J. W. John- 
son, a L. Kerr, a James Storum, a H. H. Proctor, a S. G. Atkins, a W. H. 
Brooks, a J. H. Jones, a L. B. Ellerson, a John P. Green, a W. E. Partee, 
a R. S. Smith, a W. E. King, a I. L. Purcell, a R. G. Robinson, a G. T. 
Robinson, a N". W. Harllee, a Frederick Douglass, a Booker T. Washing- 
ton, an E. E. Cooper, a W. R. Pettiford, a Bishop Payne, a J. D. Bibb, 
a George L. Knox, a W. H. Heard, a G. W. Carver, a H. A. Hunt, a J. 
H. Smyth, a F. J. Grimke, a T. L. Tucker, a H. E. Baker, a W. L. 
Scarborough, a J. H. Morgan, an A. F. Hilyer. a T . W . Jones, a J. W. 
E. Bowen, an 0. M. Waller, a J. W. Whittaker, a Geo. F. Bragg, a J. 
R. Wilder, a H. F. Johnson, a John R. Francis, a J. W. Gilbert, a H. 
A. Rucker, J. R. Porter, a W. T. Vernon, a Bishop Evans Tyree, a 
John M. Henderson, a J. Albert Johnson, a Bishop B. F. Lee, and a 
Bishop Abraham Grant. 

It is an undisputed fact that these and others like them foretell 
a bright future, for they have done much to help the race reach the 
zenith of development. 

They and other noble ones not mentioned have helped to pull down 
many great barriers ; but there are many more that must be met and over- 
come by others. 

Rise and be a factor by doing your part, and when the time comes 
for the solution, yes when the problem is solved, you can say, "I helped 
to solve it," appreciate the result, and feel worthy of the opportunities, 
honor and respect that will be accorded you by other races. 



15 

A DOLEFUL PKEDICTION. 

This generation was born in a corrupt age, and its effort seems zo 
leave it corrupt. 

At the beginning of freedom, if the race could have locked the de- 
praved practices of slavery up in its own mind, and thrown the key 
away, where it could not have been found by the present generation, 
then its vice might have been grafted into a virtue. 

But instead of this, this poisonous plant was watered and nur- 
tured, so now it has become so deeply rooted, and grown to such an 
immensity, it is throwing the dark shades of vice in every direction. 
Hence, it will require time and judicious skill to check its growth; 
for the poison from it has penetrated the minds and bodies of the 
youths, filled their brains and hearts, with its deadly fruit, and seared 
their consciences. Hence, there seems to be a willful disregard as 
to their habits, or as to the mistakes that will be handed down to the 
next generation. 

As this upas plant, vice, will grow larger through the influence of 
time, every parent should try to sow enough good seed in the hearts and 
minds of children so as to choke out evil thoughts, aand check their 
growth. For, if the race ever expects to escape from the thraldom in 
which it is nowengulfed, it must be through the power of God, and its 
own prowess. 

The North came to its rescue once, but you need not expect its 
help now, for it is as much disgusted as the South. Hence, my dear 
readers, there must be a change in the moral status of the race. 

n If impure women do not stay off the streets, trying to entice men 
and boys to enter the slums of debauchery; and if Negro men don't 
stop sitting on goods-boxes or beer kegs, with nothing to do but slander 
girls and talk politics, the politicians of the North and South will com- 
bine into a great force, and engulf us in a sea of proscription much 
deeper and wider than our present alotment. A vast num- 
ber of men and women are nothing but pests to society, 
setting examples of laziness and dishonest living. They do not try to 
elevate their children's minds; neither do they provide for and edu- 
cate them as they should. As want and poverty always exists in tho 
homes of lazy and trifling people, these deficiencies naturally lead tn 
crime. There are men in the race who seldom lose an opportunity «f 
trying to disgrace the female sex. 

There is another class who appreciate lewd women more than th^f 



16 A DOLEFUL PREDICTION. 

do virtuous ones, thereby encouraging immorality. 

But, on the other hand, a white man will lose the last drop of his 
blood, to protect the chastity of his women, thereby encouraging mor- 
ality. 

I make not this comparison out of the least design to detract any 
of the merits of the race, but it's simply a matter of justice and truth 
to both sides, and in other ways. 

If you read Uncle Tom's Cabin, you will see that the Negro was 
encouraged and allowed to exercise base emotions during slavery. There- 
fore his moral senses have been dulled, and his nature has developed in 
the wrong direction, because such emotions have imbedded immortality 
into his system; so now he looks at it more as a matter of choice than a 
mistake. 

So strongly do immoral practices, when sanctioned by custom, ap- 
peal to the animal nature in man, it obtains a full lodgment in his 
mind, blights conscience, and prevents him from realizing errors; but 
encourages him to continue, until he is meted out with punishment for 
the infraction of a law. Then he spends his remaining days in jail, or 
the penitentiary, reflecting over and regretting mistakes. 

The race must face and solve the great problem, by raising intel- 
ligent men and women. We have no time to cavil; but the hour is at 
hand for a change. 

How many young men have we capable of standing at the head of 
a family; how many are industrious enough to make a support, and how 
many can imitate the lives of their fathers, and do the will of God ? 

Study the conduct of the race, until you can answer these ques- 
tions for yourselves. The majority of the young men of to-day haven't 
any ambition higher than that of robbing girls of their character. And 
most of the girls are simple enough to waste their best days, and follow 
them down, down, until their strength is destroyed; hence, when they 
reform, they are well nigh physical, moral and mental wrecks, with in- 
effaceable stains upon their character. These statements may be made 
in strong language, but alas, they are true; and I say them in sadness, 
hoping to arouse my people to a reformation of this shameful abuse oif 
freedom. 

. The moral and religious elements are the highest elements of nature, 
and furnish the guiding principles of a race. 

Then to fail in the proper improvement of these, is to fail fatally. 

Some wonder why the white man could trust the Negro during 



A DOLEFUL PREDICTION. 17 

slavery, and can not trust him now. The answer is this: The Negro 
has advanced in intellect, but not so rapid in morals; and the white 
man is wise enough to know that intellectual education, without propor- 
tionate moral education, is dangerous. 

The white man says he has watched and studied the Negro until he 
knows him. He has a little confidence in the old Negro but can't trust the 
young one. Why ? He says he sees him in his servant room, he sees him in 
the streets, and in fact he sees him in so many placeswhere he shouldn't 
be, he has become disgusted, and has taken a desperate step in trying 
to rid the country of him. Therefore, the clamor for the continuance 
of mob violence becomes louder every year. 

Careful observation of affairs leads to the conclusion that something 
must be done, for our condition .is exceedingly precarious. Therefore 
I heartily wish that a law was enacted to prevent the youths from 
spending their time in idleness, and force them to work. Listen ! Oh 
listen at this doleful prediction. Something must be done before it's 
too late for opportunity. 

Looking now on this side and then on that, you will discover that an 
awful stretch of space separates the two races, leaving a great gulf be- 
tween them. This breach is being widened by the lower element of both 
races. A certain element of Negroes sometimes commit nameless crimes 
and a certain element of whites seem to think fire and oil are the best 
method of punishing him. Every decade shows that the ebb of prejudice 's 
rising. However, it is claimed that when we as a race pay more regard to 
morals, and all of the higher virtues, we will be given an opportunity. 
These virtues will move out oppression, and they will have the good ef- 
fect to keep the spirit of prejudice at low ebb, so they claim. 

Sometimes the Negroes fail to get the merit deserved. Therefore, 
being unable to influence those who are wrong, to act right, and being 
humiliated and broken-hearted, .-nine have become wounded in 
every belief, religious, social and personal. However, there is too much 
work to be done, for the intelligent and industrious Negroes to throw 
up their arms in despair. Those who are true to their Cod, true to them- 
selves and true to their country, need not fear, but should take a bold 
stand for right, trust in the Lord, and He will bring about the desired 
change in due season. 

He has delivered other races who have trusted Him, and He is 



18 A DOLEFUL PREDICTION. 

able to deliver us. Nevetheless, preventative steps must be taken to 
keep the indolent off of the streets, to lessen immorality, and to lesson 
intemperance. If not, during this cruel crusade, the worthy Negro 
will have to suffer with the unworthy. 

The Negro is not treating the Negro right; for, to tell the plain 
truth, the prestige of the race is weakened, not so much by what he is 
doing to other races, but by what be is doing to himself. So, when 
a shocking crime has been committed in a community, if they can't 
find sufficient evidence to know who the perpetrator is, some Negro 
must die, guilty or innocent. Why? Well, they say to themselves, 
"He's guilty of some crime, if not this; so we'll punish him anyway. 
Hence, this is why the better class of white people haven't any more to 
say concerning the vengeance of a mob. 

However, the race is not altogether to blame for the ban that has been 
placed upon it. But, on the other hand, if other races would look at the 
difficulties and calamities that the race has had to face from time to 
time, in judging it, if they would use the same standard in 
trying all races, I think it would lead to sounder conclusions. And such 
conclusions would be strengthened by the fact that, for hundreds of 
years its pathway has been marked with ignorance. Thence, it could 
be presumed that quite a number of its mistakes have been brought 
about by being mislead. 

If you plant one peach seed, you expect to get an abundance of fruit 
from the plant, and if you plant the seed of vice, you or your children 
will reap the fruit of corruption, whether you expect it or not. 

Knowing that sin begets sin, those who are acquainted with actual 
facts can hardly be surprised at the conduct of the race. 

There are three points which I think are of the utmost importance, 
and which demand the highest attention; the one is, to put an end, if 
possible, to immoral principles and practices, which threaten the most 
dangerous consequence to the race. Another is to be more industrious 
and economical, for without these, the race can not hope for peace and 
prosperity. The other is the most dangerous of all — that of our people 
being envious and treacherous among themselves. 

"Together we stand; divided wc fall." Instead of being daunted 
at the dangerous situation of affairs, we must stand together and work 
vigorously, and endeavor to retrieve lost opportunities. 

The race should not wait for other races to force it to duty; neither 
should it wait to be forced to it; but it should be lead to it by reason 



A DOLEFUL PREDICTION. 19 

and judgment. It should not have any desire to cling to the relic of 
barbarism, and to live in the mire and filth of dissipation, for the tidal 
wave of misfortune is upon us, and the shores are already strewn with 
wrecked manhood. Hence, the race should turn this relic aloose, take 
its feet out of the mire and filth, cross the strait of ignorance, and riss 
with the tidal wave of progress. 

Of course, there are many who will say that it can not rise to its 
crest, as it is living under the ban of prejudicial opinions, and ab 
other races will keep it from rising by preventing it from having good 
schools and efficient teachers. 

I am aware of the fact that strong authority can be produced ia 
favor of the obstacles mentioned. Nevertheless, you must agree with 
me, that the parents are not crowding their children in, when we ha?e 
good schools and good teachers. 

One reason why some of the boards fail to put on a iuil corps 
of teachers at the beginning of the term, you fail to put the children 
in school, and after you do ht them enter, some of you stop them for 
every frivolous thing, and let them rove the streets, to become victims 
of crime. 

For when you let the child stop school at will, you encourage it to 
disobey the teacher; finally, it begins to disobey you; and next he puts 
on the garb of manhood, and defies the authority of the country. 
Therefore he becomes an outlaw, and falls into the hands of a mob, or ia 
arrested, tried, and sent to the poor-farm, penitentiary, or else is 
hanged. So you have brought destruction on him by neglecting to 
teach him obedience, which should have been a daily lesson. I may add 
that a great want of the race is not having enough industrial schools. 
How many Negroes are failing in life because they are compelled to 
pursue paths ill suited to their capacities? Some have a talent and 
a desire to pursue certain professions, but their feet have been placed 
in the wrong paths, hence life is a failure. We should have at least one 
industrial school in every State. And it should be the duty of every 
educator employed, to watch closely those placed under his charge, and 
to place them in the proper vocations. The majority of our educated 
people are preachers, teachers and doctors. But as education furnishes 
a broad field for work, more opportunities would be open for employ- 
ment, if we would send out more competent men and women to filJ 
them. 

I know that the press has told you that colored men have been shut 



20 A DOLEFUL PREDICTION. 

down, simply because they wanted to follow certain styles of employ- 
ment and make an honest living. It has also told you of other men 
being shot down for the same cause. 

But, because a white man is assassinated, it does not prevent the 
race from pressing forward for greatness. If wise, we will garner all 
the practical knowledge we can obtain from other races, and will shun 
all things that are degrading. 

And if we begin at the first of the bodk of reformation and solve 
the moral examples of addition, the mental examples in subtraction, and 
the physical examples in multiplication, God will sink the zeal of justice 
and humanity deep enough in the American heart to persuade them 
to help solve the difficult problem that urged me to write. 

As we must go step by step, it is very necessary to begin in moral 
arithmetic, which develops the character, and add education, religion, 
industry, economy, truthfulness, refinement and chastity. The next step 
is mental arithmetic ; this trains to logical and exact thinking ; therefore 
this step will enable the race to fully understand its situation, and enable 
it to know how to subtract some of its characteristics, by getting rid of 
as much evil as possible. 

To do this, it must subtract dishonesty, immortality, ignorance, con- 
tention, strife and envy from the sum of the race's misery. 

The third is physical arithmetic; this will teach how to multiply 
all of the forces in society together in order to develop strong charac- 
ter, and healthy boys and girls. Health is one of the greatest blessings 
of life. And this step will also teach the young people whom to marry, 
when to marry, and how to marry. When the race learns to work all 
of the examples in the steps mentioned, it will not be difficult to solve 
this vexed problem. 

For these steps will meet, defy and bear down the opposition of 
adverse circumstances; they will displace nothing of life's good, but 
many of its evils; they will destroy idleness and develop industry; 
they will cultivate a spirit for union and harmony: they will open for 
us more manifold spheres of mental activity, and they will afford us 
access to more varied modes of occupation than have hitherto been avail- 
able in our race. 

Necessity demands some uniform system whereby tlio whole race 
can be reached by the benign influence of intelligence. Hence, there 
must be a continued effort for virtue, religion and education, for they 
will result in good. But our churches, schools and societies will suf- 



A DOLEFUL. PREDICTION. . 21 

fer until a prevalence of these permeates the race. Now is the time to 
have them enter into the warp and woof of the minds of the growing 
generation. With the proper respect and justice from the other races, 
on one hand, and merit, morality and intelligence of the Negro on the 
other, the standard can be raised within a few generations. 

Though the race is said to be corrupt, yet we have many noble- 
hearted men and women, whose minds flow in a clear and pure stream, 
and are living lives that would do credit to any people. 

No just mind will say that the race has received justice; and no 
just mind will say that it has done its duty. 'Therefore mistakes on 
both sides have succeeded mistakes, on down to the present moment. 
And each race has misunderstood the other. So, the wrongs, mistakes 
and misunderstandings have become wound around each other in such 
a way it would be a matter of impossibility for either race to untangle 
them. Hence it would be wise for all concerned to throw the tangled 
parts away by forgetting the past, and try to remedy the matter by keep- 
ing the future straight. 



22 



MY FIRST POEM. 



In 1880, July the third, 
Something I shall never forget occurred. 
I lost a friend, it was my mother; 
Then, I thought I had no other. 
But I had a sister, kind and true, 
T Who knew what to do. 

Being taught by the Father above, 
Her heart was ever full of love. 

Fifteen years she's been gone 
V To her eternal home; 

When she died I was small, 

Would have been eleven in the fall. 

Many times I have wept, 

Because she slept, 

To awake no more until judgment day, 

Because her body had turned to clay. 

Though my mother was gone, 
My sister was at- home ; 

And when at leisure, or when it was raining, 
She would not neglect fireside training, 
Which was printed upon my heart 
Like lessons for children upon a chart. 
I was taught to work and sent to school, 
So now I have a useful tool. 

I can earn bread by the sweat of my brow, 

Being taught while young, I know how. 

I stopped school in 86, 

But during that year my heart was fixed ; 

I believed in him who died for me 

On the cross on Calvary; 

And he's a light unto my pathway- — 

I can see as well by night as I can by day. 

Though my mother is gone, 
Christ is with me, I'm not alone; 



MY FIRST POEM. 



23 



J 'in trying to serve him the best I can. 

So I can live in another land; 

I am trying to be pure and humble; 

I know this building will crumble, 

But my soul shall soar away 

To an eternal day. 

All who have relatives or friends at rest, 
Serve the Lord, it is the best; 
And when we reach the other shore, 
All will meet to part no more. 
There will be no sickness or sorrow there 
To burden ahd fill our hearts with care; 
Then all will happy be 
With him who died on Calvary. 




DR. A. 

Physician and 



N. PRINCE, 

Surgeon. Sherman. 
Texas. 



The Negro 
Question and 
Its Solution 



By COUNT LEO TOLSTOI 








HE QUESTION TODAY .IN THE UNITED 
STATES IS NO LONGER "HOW SHALL WE 
DELIVER THE NEGROES FROM THE CRU- 
ELTIES OF THE SLAVE OWNERS?" BUT IT 
EXISTS IN ANOTHER FOi.M, "HOW SHALL 
WE DELIVER THE NEGROES FROM THE 
VIOLENCE OF ALL THE WHITE, AND THE WHITE 

MEN FROM THE VIOLENCE OF THE BLACK RACE?" 

The solution of the Negro question in its new form will be found 
some day, not in the lynching of Negroes, not in the liberal and artificial 
measures taken by and given to the Negroes by American politicians, 
but by the application of the principle proclaimed by Garrison fifty years 

ago. 

A few days ago I read an article in one of our best and most liberal 
magazines in which the writer, full of confidence in the justice of his 
claim, expresses the opinion that the recognizing of the principle of 
non-resistance to an evil is a strong and somewhat ridiculous error. 

I advocate non-resistance because I have never during the seventy- 
five years of my life seen the fantastic colored vagrant who murdered 
or assaulted a child, but I have seen millions of brigands who assault and 
murder children, women, old men and laboring men in the name of law. 
believing themselves justified because they themselves suffered violence. 

No one has seen the hypothetical brigand, while the world which 
suffers from violence is always before your eyes, and still no one sees 
or wants to see that the struggle which is to deliver human kind from 
violence is not against the imaginary brigand, but against the real bri- 
gands who rob and assault the people. 

Non-resistance only means that the natural conditions under which 



THE SOLUTION OF THE NEGRO QUESTION. 25 

a rational and intelligent being should Live dors not consist in violence, 
which is only slightly pardonable in inferior beings who do not think, but 
in moral persuasion. This is the great goal toward which we should all 
strive. 

During the last centmy 13,000,000 or 14,000,00'0 people were killed 
in war, and though the loss of that many lives and the loss of the work 
of many more men is absolutely without any sense or reason, we still 
continue to engage in bloody wars. As it is now, the soil belongs to those 
who do not work, all the profits of human labor go to those who do not 
know what honest labor is, and all this only exists because we allow vio- 
lence to take the place of persuasion. 

But the Lime will surely come when justice will prevail; when people 
will see that it will not be dangerous to make the change; that the prin- 
ciple of non-resistance is not the principle of violence, but of love and 
brotherly feeling. 

T bis principle of non-resistance can, of course, be forced upon peo- 
ple. The displacing of brutal violence by persuasion must come from 
within; it must be adopted spontaneously by the people, and true pro- 
gress can only be said to take place where this altruistic and intelligent 
principle prevails. 

Whether the world admits it or not, this principle has been at the 
bottom of all progress already made. 

Garrison was the first to proclaim this principle in social life, and 
for this he deserves undying praise. If he did not effect the peaceable 
emancipation of the salves in America, he at least showed to the world 
how it may get rid of tyranny of brutal force, and only by following 
the lines laid down by him will the United States of to-day be abb to 
solve the great Negro question. — Times Herald. Augusl 7, 1901, Dallas, 
Texas. 



2G 



THE SOLUTION OF THE NEGRO QUESTION. 



MY SECOND POEM. 
(Recited by Veralee Hall when five years old at Mexia, Texas.) 
No doubt I have surprised you 

By coming on the stage. 
I know you did not expect 
A girl of my age. 

But while I am speaking, 

Please don't nod, 
If you don't hear all I say, 

For I can't speak very loud. 

I am one of God's little children, 

Put in this world below; 
I'm not afraid to stay here, 

He's with me wherever I go. 

When I'm with children playing, 

An angel is over my head; 
When I lie down to sleep, 

It hovers over my bed. 

I wish everybody 

Would love the Lord like me, 
Because he gave his only Son 

To die on Calvary. 

If you will only believe on him, 
He will grasp you by the hand, 

And lead you through this 
Unfriendly land. 



27 

EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE RACE PROBLEM. 



A REPLY BY FROF. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, A. M., PH. D., AS APPEARED 
IN THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 

'"Will Education Solve the Race Problem?" is the title of an in- 
teresting article in the June number of the North American Review, 
by Professor John Roach Straton, of Macon, Georgia. My own belief 
is that education will finally solves the race problem. In giving some 
reasons for this faith, I wish to express my appreciation of the sincere 
and kindly spirit in which Professor Straton's article is written. I 
grant that much that he emphasizes as to present conditions is true. 
When we recall the past, these conditions could not be expected to be 
otherwise; but I see no reason for discouragement or loss of faith. 
When I speak of education as a solution for the race problem, I do 
not mean education in the narrow sense, but education which begins in 
the home and includes training in industry and in habits of thrift, 
as well as mental, moral and religious discipline, and the mroader educa- 
tion which comes from contact with the public sentiment of the com- 
munity in which one lives. Nor do 1 confine myself to the education 
of the Negro. Many persons in discussing the effect that education 
will have in working out the Negro question, overlook the helpful in- 
fluence that will ultimately come through the broader and more gener- 
ous education of all the race elements of the South. As all classes of 
whites in the South become more generally educated in the broader 
sense, race prejudice will be tempered and they will assist in lifting 
up the black man. 

In our desire to see a better condition of affairs, we are too often 
inclined to grow impatient because a whole race is not elevated in a 
short time, very much as a house is built. In all the history of man- 
kind there have been few such radical, social and economic changes 
in the policy of a nation as have been effected within thirty-five years 
in this country, with respect to the change of four million and a half 
of slaves into four million and a half of freemen (now nearly ten 
million). When all the conditions of the past are considered, and com- 
pared with the present, I think the White South, the North and the 
Negro are to be congratulated on the fact that conditions are no worse, 
but are as encouraging as they are. The sudden change from slavery 
to freedom, from restrain to liberty, was a tremendous one; and the 
wonder is, not that the Negro has not done better, but that he has done 



2S EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM 

as well as he has. Every thoughtful student of the subject expected 
that the first two or three generations of freedom would lead to ex- 
cesses and mistakes on the part of the Negro, which would in many 
cases cause moral and physical degeneration, such as would seem to 
the superficial observer to indicate conditions that could not be over- 
come. It was to be anticipated that, in the first generation at least, 
the tendency would be, among a large number, to seek the shadow in- 
stead of the substance; to grasp after the mere signs of the highest 
civilization instead of the reality; to be led into the temptations of be- 
lieving that they could secure, in a few years, that which it has taken 
other races thousands of years to obtain. Any one who has the daily 
opportunity of studying the Negro at first hand cannot but gain the 
impression that there are indisputable evidences that the Negro 
throughout the country is settling down to hard, common sent views 
of life; that he is fast learning that a race, like an individual, must 
pay for everything it gets — the price of beginning at the bottom of the 
social scale and gradually working up by natural processes to the high- 
est civilization. The exaggerated impressions that the first years of 
freedom naturally brought are giving way to an earnest, practical 
view of life and its responsibilities. 

Let us take a broad, generous survey of the Negro race as it came 
into the country, represented by twenty savages, in 1619, and trace its 
progress through slavery, through the Civil War period, 'and through 
freedom to the present moment. Who will be brave enough to say that 
the colored race, as a whole, has not increased in numbers and gr \ 
stronger mentally, morally, religiously, industrially, and in the accumu- 
lation of property? In a word, has not the Negro, at every stage, 
shown a tendency to grow into harmony with the best type of American 
civilization ? 

Professor Straton lays special slress upon the moral weakness of 
the race. Perhaps the worst feature of slavery was that it prevented 
the development of a family life, with all of its far-reaching signifi- 
cance. Except in rare cases, the uncertainties of domicile made fam- 
ily life, during two hundred and fifty years of slavery, an impossibility. 
There is no institution so conducive to right and high habits of physical 
and moral life as the home. No race starting in absolute poverty 
could be expected, in the brief period of thirty-five years, to purchase 
homes and build up a family life and influence that would have a very 
marked impression upon the life of the masses. The Negro has not had 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 



29 



time enough to collect the broken and scattered members of his fam- 
ily. For the sake of illustration, and to employ a personal reference, 
I do not know who my own father was; I have no idea who my grand- 
mother was; I have or had uncles, aunts and cousins, but I have no 
knowledge as to where most of them now are. Mv case will illustrate 
that of hundreds of thousands of black people in every part of our 




PROF. E. L. BLACKSHEAR. A. M., 

Principal of Prairie View State Normal for Preparing Teachers, Prairie 

View Texas. 

country. Perhaps 'those who direct attention to the Xegro's moral 

weakness, and compare his moral progress with that of the whites, 

do not consider the influence of the memories which cling about the 

old family homestead upon the character and aspirations of individuals. 



30 EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 

The very fact that the white boy is conscious that, if he fails in life, 
he will disgrace the whole family record, extending back through many 
generations, is of tremendous value in helping him to resist tempta- 
tions. On the other hand, the fact that the individual has behind him 
and surrounding him proud family history and connections serves 
as a stimulus to make him overcome obstacles, when striving for suc- 
cess. All this should be taken into consideration, to say nothing of 
the physical, mental and moral training which individuals of the 
white race receive in their homes. We must not pass judgment on 
the Negro too soon. It requires centuries for the influence of home, 
school, church and public contact to permeate the mass of millions of 
people, so that the upward tendency may be apparent to the casual ob- 
server. It is too soon to decide what effect general education will 
have upon the rank and file of the Negro race, because the masses have 
not been educated. 

Throughout the South, especially in the Gulf States, the great 
bulk of the black population lives in the country districts. In these 
districts the schools are rarely in session more than three months of the 
year. When this is considered, in connection with poor, teachers, poor 
schoolhouses, and an almost entire lack of apparatus, it is obvious 
that we must wait longer before we can judge, even approximately, 
of the effect that general education will have upon the whole popula- 
tion. Most writers and speakers upon the subject of the Negro's non- 
progressiveness base their arguments upon alleged facts and statistics 
of the life of Negroes in the large cities. This is hardly fair. Before 
the Civil War the Negro was not, to any considerable extent, a denizen 
of the large cities. Most of them lived on the plantations. The 
Negro living in the cities has undergone two marked changes: (1) the 
change from slavery to freedom; (2) the change from country life 
to city life. At first the tendency of both these changes was. naturally, 
to unsettle, to intoxicate and to lead the Negro to wrong ideas of life. 
The change from country life to city life, in the case of the white man, 
is about as marked as in the case of the Negro. The average Negro 
in the city, with all of its excitements and temptations, has not lived 
there more than half a generation. It is, therefore, too soon to reach 
a definite conclusion as to what the permanent effect of this life upon 
him will be. This, I think, explains the difference between the moral 
condition of the Negro, to which Professor Straton refers, in the States 
where there has been little change in the old plantation life, as com- 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 31 

pared with that in the more northern of the Atlantic States, where the 
change from country to city life is more marked. 

Judging from close observation, my belief is that, after the Negro 
has overcome the false idea which city life emphasizes, two or three 
generations will bring about an earnestness and steadinesss of purpose 
which do not now generally obtain. As the Negro secures a home in 
the city, learns the lessons of industry and thrift and becomes a tax- 
payer, his moral life improves. The influence of home surroundings, 
of the school, the church and public sentiment will be more marked 
and have a more potent effect in causing him to withstand temptations. 
But, notwithstanding the shortness of the time which the Negro has 
had in which to get schooled to his new life, any one who has visited the 
large cities of Europe will readily testify that the visible signs of im- 
morality in those cities are far greater than among the colored people 
of America. Prostitution for gain is far more prevalent in the cities 
of Europe than among the colored people of our cities. 

Professor Straton says that the Negro has degenerated in morals 
since he became free; in other words, that his condition in this respect 
is not as hopeful as it was during the early period of slavery. I do 
not think it wise to place too much reliance upon such a view of tin- 
matter, because there are too few facts upon which to base a comparison. 
The bold statement that the Negro was not given to crime during 
slavery proves little. Slavery represented an unnatural condition of 
life, in which certain physical checks were kept constantly upon the 
individual. To say that the Negro was at his best, morally, during 
the period of slavery is about the same as to say that the two thousand 
prisoners in the State prison and the city penal institutions in the city 
of Boston are the most righteous two thousand people in Boston. I 

question whether one can find two thousand persons in Boston who will 
equal these two thousand imprisoned criminals in the mere negative 
virtues. During the days of slavery the Negro was rarely broughl 
into the court to be tried for crime; hence, there was almost no public 
record of crimes committed by him. Each master, in mosl eases, pun- 
ished Ids slave as he thought best, and as little as possible was sai I 
about it outside of his little plantation world. The improper relations 
between the sexes, with which the black race is now frequently charged 
in most sect inns of the South, were encouraged or winked at, undei 
the slavery system, because of the financial value of the Blaves. A cus- 



32 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 



torn that was fostered for three centuries cannot be blotted out in one 
generation. 

In estimating the progress of a race, we should not consider alone 
the degree of success which has been actually attained, but also the 




REV. W. J. LAWS, D. D. 
The Scholar, Bibical Logician, President of Paul Quinn College, Waco, Tex. 



obstacles which have been overcome in reaching that success. Judged 
by the obstaco overcome, few races, if any, in history have made 
progress commensurate with that of the colored people of the United 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 33 

States, in the same length of time. It may be conceded that the present 
generation of colored people does not compare favorably with the 
present generation of the white race, because of the reasons I have al- 
ready given, and the further reason that on account of the black man's 
poverty of means to employ lawyers to have his case properly appealed 
to the higher courts, and his inability to furnish bonds, his criminal 
record is much worse than that of the white race, both in the Northern 
and Southern States. The Southern Slates, as a whole, have not yet 
reached a point where they are able to provide reformatories for juvenile 
offenders, and consecjtiently most of these are sent to the State prison, 
where the records show that the same individuals are often committed 
over and over again, because in the first instance, the child prisoner, 
instead of being reformed, becomes simply hardened to prison life. 
In the North, it is true, the Negro has the benefit of the reformatories; 
but the unreasonable prejudice which prevents him from securing em- 
ployment in the shops and the factories more than offsets this ad- 
vantage. Hundreds of Negroes in the North become criminals who 
would become strong- and useful men if thev were not discriminated 
against as bread winners. 

In the matter of assault upon white women, the Negro is placed 
in a peculiar attitude. While this vile crime is always to be condemned 
in the strongesl language, and it should lie followed by the severe-'. 
legal punishment, yet the custom of lynching a Negro when he is ac- 
cused of committing such a crime calls the attention of the whole 
country to it, in such a way as is not always true in the case of a white 
man, North or South. Any one who reads the daily papers carefully 
knows that such assaults are constantly charged against white men .\ 
the North and in the South ; but, because the white man, in most 
cases, is punished by the regular machinery of the courts, attention is 
seldom attracted to his crime outside of the immediate neighborhood 
where the offense is committed. This, to say nothing of the cases where 
the victim of lynch law could prove his innocence, if he were driven a 
hearing before a cool, level-headed set of jurors in open court, maki s 
the apparent contrast unfavorable to the black man. It is hardly 
proper, in summing up the value of any race, to dwell almost contin- 
ually upon its weaker element. As other men are judged, so should 
the Negro be judged, by the L-t thai the race can produce, rather than 
by the worse. Keep the searchlight constantly focused ipon the crim- 
inal and worthless element of any people, and few among all the races 



34 EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 

and nations of the world can be accounted successful. More attention 
should be directed to individuals who have succeeded, and less to those 
who have failed. And Negroes who have succeeded grandly can be 
found in every corner of the South. 

I doubt that much reliance can safely be placed upon mere ability 
to read and write a little as a means of saving any race. Education 
should go further. One of the weaknesses in the Negro's present con- 
dition grows out of failure, in the early years of his freedom, to teach 
him, in connection with thorough academic and religious branches, 
the dignity and beauty of labor, and to give him a working knowledge 
of the industries by which he must earn a subsistence. But the main 
question is: What is the present tendency of the race, where it has 
been given a fair opportunity, and where there has been thorough edu- 
cation of hand, head and heart? This question I answer from my own 
experience of nineteen years in the heart of the South, and from my 
daily contact with whites and blacks. In the first place, the social 
barrier prevents most white people from coming into real contact with 
the higher and better side of the Negro's social life. The Negro loafer, 
Drunkard and gambler can be seen without social contact. The higher 
life cannot be seen without social contact. As I write these lines I am 
in the home of a Negro friend, where in the matter of cleanliness, 
sweetness, attractiveness, modern conveniences and other evidences of 
intelligence, morality and culture the home would compare favorably 
with that of any white family in the neighborhood; and yet this Negro 
home is unknown outside of the little town where it exists. To really 
know the life of this family, one would have to become a part of it for 
days, as I have been. One of the most encouraging changes that have 
taken place in the life of the Negro race in the past thirty years is the 
creation of a growing public sentiment which draws a line between the 
good and bad, the clean and unclean. This change is fast taking place 
hi every part of the country. It is one that cannot be accurately 
measured by any table of statistics. To be able to appreciate it fully, 
one must himself be a part of the social life of the race. 

As to the effect of industrial education in the solution of the race 
problem, we should not expect too much from it in a short time. To 
the late General S. C. Armstrong, of Hampton Institute, in Virginia, 
should be given the credit, mainly, for inaugurating this system of edu- 
cation. When the Hampton Institute began the systematic, industrial 
training of the Negro, such training was unpopular among a large 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 35 

class of colored people. Later, when the same system was started hy 
me dt the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, in Alabama, it 
was still unpopular, especially in that part of the South. But the 
feeling against it has now almost disappeared in all parts of the coun- 
try; so much so that 1 do not consider the opposition of a few people 
here and there as of material consequence. Where there is one who op- 
poses it there are thousand who indorse it. So far as the colored 
people are concerned, I consider that the battle for this principle has 
been fought and won. What the colored people are anxious about is 
that, with industrial education, they shall have thorough mental and 
religious training; and in this they are right. For bringing about this 
change in the attitude of the colored people, much credit should be 
given to the John F. Slater Fund, under the wise guidance of such 
men as Mr. Morris K. Jesup and Dr. J. L. M. Curry, as well as to Dr. H. 
B. Frissell, of the Hampton Institute. That such institutions for in- 
dustrial training as Hampton Institute and the Tuskegee Institute are 
always crowded with the best class of Negro students from nearly 
every State in the Union, and that every year they are compelled to 
refuse admission to hundreds of others, for lack of room and means, 
are sufficient evidence that the black race has come to appreciate the 
value of industrial education. The almost pathetic demand of the 
colored people for industrial education in every corner of the South 
is added evidence of the growing intelligence of the race. In saying 
what I do in regard to industrial education, I do not wish to be under- 
stood as meaning that the education of the Negro should be confined 
tc that kind alone, because we need men and women well educated ru 
other directions; but for the masses industrial education is the supreme 
need. I repeat that we must not expect too much from this training, 
in the redemption of a race, in the space of a few years. 

There are few institutions in the South where industrial training 
is given upon a large and systematic scale, and the graduates from these 
institutions have not had time to make themselves felt to any very 
large extent upon the life of the rank and file of the people. But what 
are the indications? As I write, I have before me a record of gradu- 
ates, which is carefully compiled each year. Of the hundreds who 
have been trained at tin 1 Tuskegee Institute, less than five per cent. 
have failed because -of any moral weakness. These graduats, as well 
as hundreds of other student- who could net remain to finish the 
course, are now at work in the schoolroom, in the field, in the shop, 



3G 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 




REV. W. B. WEST, D. D., 
Orator, Writer, President of Texas College, C. M. E. Church, Tyler, Texas. 

in the home, or as teachers of industry, or in some way they are making 
their education felt in the lifting up of the colored people. Wherever 
these graduates go, they not only help their own race, but, in nearly 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 37 

every case, they win the respect and confidence of the white people. 

Not long ago I sent a number of letters to white men, in all the 
Southern States, asking, among others, this question: "Judged by 
actual observation in your community, what is the effect of education 
upon the Negro?" In asking this question, I was careful to explain 
that by education I did not mean a mere smattering, but a thorough 
education of the head, heart and hand. I received about three hundred 
replies, and there was only one who said that education did not help 
the Negro. Most of the others were emphatic in stating that educa- 
tion made the Negro a better citizen. In all the record of crime in 
the South, there are very few instances where a black man who has been 
thoroughly educated in the respects I have mentioned, has been ever 
charged with the crime of assaulting a woman. In fact, I do not know 
of a single instance of this kind, whether the man was educated in 
an industrial school or in a college. 

The following extracts from a letter written by a Southern white 
man to the Daily Advertiser, of Montgomery, Alabama, contains most 
valuable testimony. The letter refers to convicts in Alabama, most 
of whom are colored: 

"I was conversing not long ago with the warden of one of oar 
mining prisons, containing about 500 convicts. The warden is a prac- 
tical man, who has been in charge of prisons for more than fifteen 
years, and /has no theorie of any kind to support. I remarked to him 
that I wanted some information as to the effect of manual training in 
preventing criminality, and asked him to state what per cent, of the 
prisoners under his charge had received any manual training, besides 
the acquaintance with the crudest agricultural labor. He replied: 
'Perhaps about one per cent.' He added: 'No; much less than that. 
We have here at present only one mechanic; that is, there is one man 
who claims to be a house painter.' 

" 'Have you any shoemakers ?' 

" 'Never have had a shoemaker.' 

"'Have vou anv tailors?' 

" 'Never have had a tailor.' 

" 'Any printers ?' 

'■'Never have had a printer.' 

" 'Any carpenters?' 

"'Never have had a carpenter. There is not a man in this prison 
that could saw to a straight line..' " 



38 EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 

Now, these facts seem to show that manual training is almost 
as good a preventive for criminality as vaccination is for smallpox. 

We can best judge further of the value of industrial and academic 
education by using a few statistics bearing upon the State of Virginia, 
where graduates from the Hampton Institute and other schools have 
gone in large numbers and have had an opportunity, in point of time, 
to make their influence apparent upon the Negro population. These 
statistics, based on census reports, were compiled mainly by persons 
connected with the Hampton Negro Conference : 

"Taking taxation as a basis, the colored people of the State of 
Virginia contributed, in 1898, directly to the expenses of the State 
Government, the sum of $9,576.76, and for schools $3,239.41 from 
their personal property, a total of $12,816.17; while, from their real 
estate, for the purpose of the commonwealth, there was paid by them 
$34,303.53, and for schools $11,457.22, or a total of $45,760.75— a 
grand total of $58,576.92. 

''The report for the same year shows them to own 987,118 acres 
of land, valued at $3,800,459, improved by buildings valued at $2,056,- 
490, a total of $5,856,949. In the towns and cities, they own lots 
assessed at $2,154,331, improved by buildings valued at $3,400,636, a 
total of $5,554,976 for town property, and a grand total of $11,- 
411,916 of their property of all kinds in the commonwealth. A com- 
parative statement of different years would doubtless show a general 
upward tendency. 

"The counties of Accomac, Essex, King and Queen, Middlesex, 
Mathews, Northampton, Northumberland, Richmond, West/mo reland, 
Gloucester, Princess Anne and Lancaster, all agricultural, show an ag- 
gregate of 114.197 acres held by Negroes in 1897, the last year account- 
ed for in official reports, against 108,824 held the previous year, an 
increase of 5,379, or nearly five per cent. The total valuation of land 
owned by Negroes in the same counties for 1897, is $547,800, against 
$496,385 for the year next preceding, a gain of $51,150, or more than 
ten per cent. The personal property, as assessed in 1897, was $517,560, 
in 1896. $527,688, a loss of $10,128. Combining the real and personal 
property for 1897, we have $1,409,059, against $1,320,504 for 1896, a 
net gain of $88,555. an increase of six and one-half per cent. 

"The records of Gloucester. Lancaster, Middlesex. Princess Anne, 
Northumberland, Northampton. King and Queen. Essex, and West- 
moreland, where the colored population exceeds the white, show that 



EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 39 



the criminal expense for 189G was $14,313.29, but for 1897 it was only 
$8,538.12, a saving of $5,774.17 to the State, or a falling off of forty 
per cent. This does not tell the whole story. In the first named year 
twenty-six persons were convicted of felonies, with sentences in the 
penitentiary, while in the year succeeding only nine, or one-third as 
many, were convicted of the graver offences of the law." 

According to these returns, in 1892, when the colored people form- 
ed 41 per cent, of the population, they owned 2.75 per cent, of the 
total number of acres assessed for taxation, and 3.40 per cent, of the 
buildings; in 1898, although not constituting more than 37 per cent, 
of the population (by reason of white immigration), they owned 3.23 
per cent, of the acreage assessed, and 4.64 per cent, of the buildings — 
a gain of nearly one-third in six years. 

According to statistics gathered by a graduate of the Hampton 
Institute, in twelve counties in Virginia, there has been in the part of 
the State covered by the investigation an increase of 5,379 acres in 
the holdings of colored people, and an increase of $51,150 in the value 
of their land. In nine counties there has been a decrease in the number 
of persons charged with felonies and sent to the penitntiary from 
twenty-six in 1896 to nine in 1897. 

I do not believe that the Negro will grow weaker in morals and 
less strong in numbers because of his immediate contact with the 
white race. The first class life insurance companies are considered 
excellent authorities as to the longevity of individuals and races; and 
the fact that most of them now seek to insure the educated class of 
blacks, is a good test of what these companies think of the effects of 
education upon the mortality of the race. 

The ease of Jamaica, in the West -Indies, presents a good example 
by which to judge the future of the Negro of the United States, >o 
far as mortality is concerned. The argument drawn from Jamaica is 
valuable, chiefly because the race there has been free for sixty-two 
years, instead of thirty-five, as in our own country. During the years 
of freedom, the blacks of Jamaica have been in constant contact with 
the white man. Slavery was abolished in Jamaica in 1838. The census 

of 1844 showed that there were ".(J 1,000 Negroes on the Island. In 
1871 there were 193,000, and in L89] there were 610,597. In a his- 
tory of Jamaica written by Mr. W. I'. Livingston, who -[Hut ten years 
studying the conditions of tbr Island, we find that, immediately alter 
emancipation on the Island, there was something of the reaction that 



40 EDUCATION WILL SOLVE THE NEGRO PROBLEM. 

has taken place in some parts of our country; but that recently there 
has been a settling down to real, earnest life on the part of a large 
proportion of the race. After calling attention to certain weak and 
unsatisfactory phases in the life of the Jamaica Negro, Mr. Livingston 

says: 

"This, then, is the race as it exists to-day, a product of sixty years 
of freedom; on the whole, a plain, honest, Anglicized people, with no 
peculiarity except a harmless ignorance and superstition. Looking at 
it in contrast with what it was at the beginning of the period, one 
cannot but be impressed with the wonderful progress it has made; 
and where there has been steady progress in the past, there is infinite 
hope for the future. * * * The impact of Eoman power and culture on 
the northern barbarians of the United Kingdom did not make itself fell 
for three hundred years. * * * Instead of dying off before civilization, 
he (the Negro) grows stronger as he conies within its best influences. ' 

In comparing the black race of Jamaica with that of the Unite 1 
States, it should be borne in mind that the Negro in America enjoys 
advantages and encouragements which the race in Jamaica does not 
possess. 

What I have said, I repeat, is based largely upon my own ex- 
perience and observation, rather than upon statistics. I do not wish to 
convey the impression that the problem before our country is not a 
large and serious one; but I do believe that in a judicious system of 
industrial, mental and religious training we have found the method 
of solving it. What we most need is the money necessary to make 
the system effective. The indications are hopeful, not discouraging; 
and not the least encouraging is the fact that in addition to the mu- 
nificene of Northern philanthropists and the appropriations of the 
Southern State (iovernments from common taxation, with the efforts 
of the Negro himself, we have now reached a point at which the solu- 
tion of this problem is drawing to its aid some of the most thoughtful 
and cultured white men and women of the South, a? is indicated by the 
article to which I have already referred, from the pen of Professor 
John Roach Straton. 

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 



41 



HOME ATMOSPHERE. 



It is the fostering atmosphere that gives form and life to a young 
and tender plant; and it's the fostering atmosphere of home that lays the 
foundation for good or evil in the child. 

Therefore, back of the characteristics of outward conduct lie the 
causes to be found in environments and heredity. 

If this statement be true, every family should be surrounded with 
atmosphere so pure that the good influences passing out from one 





11 

•if! Hi! { 




THE HALL RESIDENCE. 
Where this Book Was Composed and the Contracts Issued and Signed for 

Publishing. 

family could penetrate the center of all the others. 

They should be careful during the growth period of their chil- 
dren, concerning health, strength, habits, form and character. For 
it I- evidently true thai many of the mistakes of parents have their be- 
ginnings in childhood. The atmosphere thai mo I children breathe is 
not as pure and sweel as it oughl to be. 



42 HOME ATMOSPHERE. 






However, most people are aware of the fact, whether they've stud- 
ied physiology or not, that impure air affects their bodies, makes im- 
pure blood, and lays the foundation for diseases. 

Just so it is with the minds of children; if they breathe impure 
air, their hearts will be corrupted, and their habits will lead to dissi- 
pation; but if they breathe pure air, their hearts will be clean, and 
their habits will lead to preservation. Parents must value their own 
health, bodies and souls, before they can value their children's. 

It is a fearful thing to-put stumbling-blocks in the way of the 
little ones; for when you do, immorality, sin, disease and death are 
the results. For, usually, when children grow up with an appetite 
for dissipation, no amount of reasoning will hold them back from 
destruction. 

Take the experience of civilized people for ages back. It tells you 
that their progress was largely due to their environments, surround- 
ings and home atmosphere. 

Take the facts of the world's history, and what do they tell you? 
They tell you that nations that have neglected their children and 
have indulged in ignorance and folly, have always been the footstool 
for superior races; but races that have been intelligent, religious and 
industrious, have always handed down to their posterity a moral force 
which enabled them to fight the battles of life successfully, and wear 
the laurels of victory. 

Take the Word of God; what does it teach? It tells you to train 
up a child in the way it should go. 

Are you leading your children to grand and noble acts by teaching 
them to follow your footsteps? 

Knowing it to be a fact that one of the integral parts of child's 
nature is to imitate, you can be buoyed up with the thought of raising 
the standard of the races, by doing your duty at home. For child- 
hood is the time when lasting impressions are made, and when habits 
are formed. 

Now, if you want to give the proper direction in a child's life, 
you must be worthy of imitation. 

The greater percent of our people are surrounded with atmosphere 
that is very distasteful to sensitive minds; and the families that are 
keeping it in this impure state, are encouraging the crimes of the 
race, and sending their children to the jails, poor-farms and peniten- 
tiaries. 



MOME ATMOSPHERE 



43 



Look into the different homes! Are they what they ought to be? 
I shall not endeavor to answer this question, but you can step in and 
make some inquiries of the occupants, and I am sure that you will 
return, shocked by the information received. How can the minds of 
children be lofty under the present system of family relations? 




PROF. R. S. LOVINGOOD. A. M., 
President of the Sam Houston M. E. College. Austin. Texas. 



The most of them enter this land of sin and sorrow distressed from 
the cradle. They often live and die, without even knowing their 
father's name, or the affections of a father; hence, they are taught 
deception from infancy. 

Can we expect much power to spring from such an embryo life? 



44 



HOME ATMOSPHERE. 



Of course, the present generation is not wholly responsible for the 
moral status of the race; but a just mind will remember that slavery 
held a great sceptre in the destruction of family instincts during 
slavery; and poverty is holding a great sceptre in its destruction to-day 
However, you should not allow these excuses to keep you from doing 
your duty, for opportunity is knocking at your door. 




MISS HALLIE Q. BROWN, 
One of the queens in elocution, having 
traversed the world, recited before 
the honorable and the royalty of the 
Commonwealth. 

But the most earnest efforts of your lives should be pledged to the 
elevation of the young, the forming and moulding of their destinies, 
60 that when they grow up to manhood and womanhood, they can leave 
off the tenacious garb of dissipation, and put on the robe of integrity. 

Let me impress upon you the duty of keeping your children from 
dangerous companionship, and do all you can to foster into them a 
taste for high emotions. 

The parents who learn the lessons inclosed in this chapter, and 
carry them mto effect, will rise up as pillars of strength to the race. 



HOME ATMOSPHERE 45 

But those- who fail to learn these all-important lessons will continue 
to undermine its foundation. 

Bead the histories of the leading nations of the world, and they 
tell you that noble men and women carved out paths to success for 
them, and left traces of their footsteps as a beneficent endowment. 

Can we not leave to our posterity the same kind of endowment? 
The chief obstacle in the way of home training comes through parents 
not realizing its value and their disinclination to undertake the train- 
ing of their children in the proper direction. 

Some do not want to take the time to teach them, but leave the 
different kinds of training for them to learn at school; others say, 
"Let them come up like we did." 

Isn't this the first thought that should arise in every parent's mind 
as they survey the group of children that are exposed to temptations, 
by environments, surroundings and home atmosphere. 

I must show them lives of purity? 

Children should be trained to exemplify truth; then you could 
expect truthful men and women. They should be trained to exempli- 
fy honesty; then you could expect honest men and women. They 
should be trained to exemplify character; then you could expect moral 
men and women. And they should be trained to exemplify frugality; 
then you could expect industrious men and women. You have the 
opportunity, for there are forces within your reach for the construc- 
tion of each. 

Now I hope you will survey 

The children of to-day, 

Until you become interested, 

And much sympathy is manifested 

In their future destiny, 

In their happiness and prosperity. 

You can help direct their destiny by being a lit example Eor them 
to imitate. For the Negro's nature can be curbed and tamed, just 
as other races. 

We have tob many young mothers, who arc not old enough, neither 
strong enough, to battle with the struggles that necessity forces upon 
them; neither have their minds developed enough to properly rear a 
family; hence it is very unfortunate for their children. 



46 HOME ATMOSPHERE. 

If the statistics of marriage and births were taken in connection, 
you would readily see that the per cent of births exceed that of mar- 
riages too far. This error has naturally brought on the degeneration 
of the race. This error alone is enough to make the tears trickle 
down the cheeks, and warp the floor of every Negro that possesses 
race pride. The babes of to-day seldom have the opportunity of look- 
ing into the faces of ideal mothers, and true fathers. 

It is the duty of every mother and father to make human life 
stronger and more beautiful, by being a fit example for their children 
to pattern after. But there are parents whose lives are so low and 
coarse they haven't the courage to teach their children to aspire for 
high things. By their ways, they influence their children to travel 
the road that leads to destruction. 

Can it be possible that parents are throwing their awful weight 
of influence and sanction in favor of a curse that is undermining the 
foundation of character, that is sucking the very essence of virtue from 
their own blood, and blighting the future progress of their own pos- 
terity ? 

Yes, it is true; for year after year the youths become more and 
more trifling. 

All children are brought into life in the midst of a struggle, and 
are forced to enter the conflict whether they will or not, for different 
responsibilities are perpetually impinging upon them. 

But the children of other races haven't as much to fight against as 
the Negro, for everything seems to be against him; they have even 
raised their hands against 'each other. 

Oh, the pleasure, the happiness and the freedom of an infantile 
mind ! 

However, these are only of a short duration with the Negro child; 
for it goes but a very short distance in life before it learns that it 
belongs to a weak race, and is oppressed by the strong. And, taking 
everything into consideration, they have but a very few incentives to 
spur their minds to grasp after noble ideals. 

In this cruel period which is trying our race, let us think much 
upon these subjects, education and religion, wealth, honor, truth, vir- 
tue, honesty and industry. If these things are entrenched into the 
lives of the present generation, the next will be raised to a higher 
plane of living. 

Childhood is the time when lasting impressions are made, when 



HOME ATMOSPHERE. 47 

habits are formed, and the time when they should breathe pure, sweet 
atmosphere. 

Some people seem surprised at the gait of the young people down- 
ward, as if they do not know the cause; however, they should remem- 
ber that the youths are only following in their footsteps. 

To the parents who have hitherto been mere inhalers of impure 
air, let me persuade you to observe and remove the causes. God has 
given you little plants to prepare for His kingdom; He has given you 
these little edifices to adorn with wisdom and prepare for the in- 
dwelling of the Holy Spirit; He has given you these little prattling 
voices to increase the pleasures and music of home; and He has given 
you these little beings for the home circle. Then these children should 
be carefully trained; they are yours! 

Even the babe in the cradle soon learns to imitate. Then remem- 
ber that pure, noble and high emotions will be dwarfed, or grow largely, 
according to the kind of atmosphere breathed; and if it is not pure, 
they can not develop properly. 

The care of a child is a serious responsibility, for evil and good are 
contending forces, struggling for mastery, and trying to shape thought 
in the brain. Nevertheless, every tendency of its mind, and every emo- 
tion of its life is influenced by home training. In view of such facts 
as these, you should select the right kind of forces for the construc- 
tion of its character, but should not allow tendencies to creep in, that 
will destroy the vital elements of the body and mind. 

Desirable or undesirable qualities will surely characterize the 
child, according to the environments with which it is surrounded, for 
these will shape its character, or mar its future progress in life. 

Life is hard enough, even when Nature gives it a good start; then 
why should you lay the foundation for disease? If parents could 
realize the influence their precepts and examples exert, either for 
-ood or evil, upon the destiny ai their children. 1 think they would b- 
more careful. For it is very necessary to stamp upon their hearts and 
minds truths not easily effaced. 

God has committed these little beings to our care, thai we may 
interfuse culture, grace and refinement into their natures. To do 
this we must give them early, consistent and intelligent care. By 
inspiring enthusiasm during childhood, we can lighten the labor of 
life's work, and give power and vigor to adult life. Mothers, give 
your children earnesl and persistent attention, for you owe them a cer- 



48 HOME ATMOSPHERE. 

tain portion of your time, and if you do not spend this time in train- 
ing them, you must spend it in weeping over their misfortunes. We 
know that some children have habits that were inherited, and some- 
times they go astray, regardles of fireside training. However, we must 
do our duty and leave their destinies to God. 

I have failed to see the desired advancement morally, not only m 
towns where I have lived, but in all the towns that now join hands 
to form the United States. Why? It is because the majority of our 
people were reared in impure homes, and surrounded with other im- 
purities that should not have been exposed to them. Hence past mis- 
takes have affected our homes, corrupted our society and injured the 



race. 



Though now and then we see a Negro 
With a heart as white as snow, 
And the home atmosphere is pure and sweet, 
And his family looks clean and neat, 
As he's doing all he can to raise the race higher, 
I think all nations should admire 
His noble efforts, though he be black, 
And should not upon him, for this curse, stack 
Mistrust, envy, scorn and hate. 

However, they should use their own prerogatives about their 
associates. 

Now may every family try to keep 

The home atmosphere pure and sweet. 

But to do this, the elements must be 

High mental, moral and physical ideals, don't you see? 

And the men should live pure lives, 

By marrying and supporting their wives; 

And the wives should be good and true, 

Matters not how many trials they have to go through. 

Then we can raise noble men and women for the future race, 

And with other people we can keep pace. 

Now the truths inclosed in this volume 

Can help to solve the Ne<rro Problem. 






HOME ATMOSPHERE 49 

HEAVEE'S BANK. 



Heaven has a bank, I'm toia, 
But all of its treasures are not in gold; 
Secure a check, and then you'll know 
What the contents will be before you go. 

The cashier never leaves the vault; 

To ask the time you need not halt. 

But present your check, and receive the pay 

For the work done during the day. 

If in him your treasures you trust, 

They can not be destroyed by moth or rust, 

For the master watches over the wealth of his nock; 

No rogue can enter, so you don't need a lock. 

You'll notice, if you read the mail. 
That earthly banks very often fail; 
The loser has an incurable pain, 
Because his works have been in vain. 

Sometimes he commits suicide, 
Because his troubles he can not hide; 
Then he goes to a place of pain, 
Because he spent his time in seeking gain. 

Now glorify the God of love, 
And set your affections on things above. 
Where the treasure is, there the heart is also, 
And it Mill end in happiness, or eternal woe. 

Though poor, you can lie rich in grace, 
And find in Christ a resting place. 
He will be with yon when you die:; 
He'll carry you to that home on high. 

Tf you'd like t<> be rich indeed. 
To earthlv banks take Utile heed, 



50 



HEAVEN'S BANK. 



But place your treasures in the bank on high; 
'Twill do you good when you eome to die. 

When we reach the streets of gold, 
We'll be so overjoyed when we behold 
The long white robe and glittering crown, 
We'll not inquire to know the town 

From whence each came ; * 

Or whether he was black, white, cripple or lame; 
Then we'll sit down by Christ, and thank 
Him for our interest in Heaven's Bank. 




. REV. JOSHUA V. GOINS, JR. 

A model young minister of the West 
Texas A. M. E. Conference. 






51 

FAITH, HOPE AND CHAKITY. 



These three sisters of grace 

Will lead every one of the race ■ 

To noble works of love, 

And to a beautiful home above. 

That is, if they'll let them dwell 

In their hearts and love propel. 

are in sympathy with every nation, 
And are willing to claim them as their relation. 

No one ever gets so low, 
That these sisters will not go 
To her, with consolation and love, 
To glory in the Christ that lives above. 
Tis not their desire to leave 
Anv one; but 'tis their wish to lead 
Every one to an exalted place, 
Even the people of the Negro race. 

Faith is a firm belief, or promise given 

To an eternal home in heaven, 

On a belief or evidence of any kind, 

That you permit to control the mind. 

Now may her words enchant your heart 

From evil ways to depart, 

And all things that are degrading shun. 

And to believe in Christ, God's only Son. 

Hope is a desire of something by expectation, 
Through promise or imagination. 
It's anticipation, belief or trust 
Of obtaining something for which you lust. 
Without hope, the world would be in despair, 
And would not for another home prepare. 
TTo"e thou in Christ, and praise His name. 
And all his wondrous work proclaim. 



52 FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. 

Charity is full of love, and is good. 

Uh, how I wish you would 

Open the door, 

For she's very kind to the poor. 

•She is full of affection and liberality, 

And never was known to show partiality, 

Unless it was to the needy and distressed, 

Or the sick, afflicted and oppressed. 

Invite them in; they will not harm; 

However, I hope that their faces will charm 

All who look upon them 

To open their hearts and let them in. 

Do not invite one in, and leave out two; 

For they will go to the rescue. 

Do not invite two in and leave out the other, 

For these three sisters should go together. 

All three of them are sisters of mercy, 

But the greatest of these is charity. 

Hence it is very clear 

That you will possess something that's costly and dear. 

Now may every one of the race 

Possess this noble sister of grace. 

For she will go to the rescue 

Of all who have troubles and trials to endure. 

The race certainly needs more hope. 

Or else it will never cope 

With other nations in power and privilege; 

Then it is its duty to pledge 

Itself to hope in God, 

And continue to plod 

In the paths of righteousness, 

Industry, virtue, truth and usefulness. 

Hope without faith does not bring consolation ; 

Then 'tis the duty of this nation 

To have faith, believing that it can ascend 



FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY. 



53 



To high things, and can rend 

itself from things that keep it from receiving a blessin< 

And from things that keep it from progressing; 

Then sisters, Faith must be involved 

Before the problem can be solved. 

May you look into their faces 

Until you are charmed by their graces ; 

Then gratify them by doing right, 

And living pleasing in God's sight. 

They will not only bring comfort and cheer 

To their friends whilst here. 

But they will gently lead them on, 

And give them a seat around God's throne. 




"/ 






MRS. E. E. PETERSON, 

State President of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 
A Tireless Worker and a Forcible Lecturist. 



54 

A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 

Though I am a woman. I feel that this is the most difficult subject 
to do justice to within the scope of this volume, though I might write 
until physical strength would fail me, yet I would leave out many im- 
portant things that could be said of her. 




THE GROOM AND BRIDE. 

First Start in Life Happy. 



However feeling that it was intended that woman's mission should 
he noble and grand, I am satisfied that I can press many truths into this 
capsule that will help her to perform the mission well. 



A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 



55 



Now, I will begin with her while under the parental roof, and 
follow her to the tomb. 

But as there is a difference in women 1 shall endeavor to picture 




RT. REV. EVANS TYREE. M. D.. D. D., 
Twenty-Sixth Bishop of ths A. M. E. Church. 

four classes of them. And after you have read the chapters thai 
represent each I know you will call to mind many family circles thai 

resemble them. 



56 A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 

In this chapter you see a girl standing at the altar, against the wish 
es of her parents and friends. 

Why? They know the habits of this young man you see standing 
by her side; and as they look through the telescope of time they dis- 
cern misery and sorrow in store for them. 

However, she has fallen in love with this young man and marries, 
thinking that she can reform him. But wouldn't it be better for this 
girl to remain single and die an old maid than to mate herself with 
this man who is demoralized? 

It is evidently, true that her life will be an unhappy one, for the 
girl that enters the voyage of a married life with a lazy, intemperate, 
offensive, repugnant and cross husband is likely to drift on and on 
through troubles and disappointments until she becomes embittered, 
miserable, hysterical and wholly dissatisfied. 

This girl has been carefully reared and has a fair educa- 
tion. However, she has made an unwise selection. Nevertheless, feeling 
that she has the object of her affections, she is perfectly happy. But 
you will finally see that this happiness is only of a short duration. 

Now, before going into the details of her married life, permit me 
to digress a few moments for the purpose of relating a story that was 
told to me by a woman that made a mistake in marriage. 

About eleven years ago, during the time I taught in Mississippi, 
a lady told me that she belonged to a wealthy family, and had been 
carefully reared, but married against the wishes of her parents. They 
being dissatisfied with her marriage, treated her very cold and indif- 
ferent. And she, becoming wounded over their treatment, decided to 
move to Tennessee with her husband and make the best of life she 
could. She said that he was very kind to her at first, but finally grew 
indifferent by degrees. He would go off and stay days at the time, 
and leave her and the baby at home sick, without food or fire. During 
the seven years of mistreatment she only had one child to live, for the 

Lord took the other little unfortunate beings out of their misery. 

Finally she lost her health, but toiled on in the midst of aches. 
He grew worse and worse. Neighbors told her that he gambled. 
She told him, but he denied the accusation. However, one night she 
followed him to an old gin where several of his associates had congre- 
gated. The next morning she told him where he went, but he denied 
it. However, when she spoke of following him, he not only acknowledged 



A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 57 

that he gambled, but abused her. She wept bitterly all the morning, and 
that evening when she started to the well for water her heart was ?o 
full of trouble and remorse she let her bucket drop in the pathway, held 

up her hands and said, "0 Lord, take and do Thy will with him." 

However, when her prayer was answered, she was enwrapped in more 
trouble, for in three days' time an officer came and arrested him for 
stealing. He was tried, and sent to the penitentiary in Mississippi. 

I have, for brevity's sake, ommitted much more than is here set 
down. However I have related this much of the conversation to warn 
girls of the mistake of being too hasty and disobedient. 

Of course some parents were not wise enough to choose a companion 
for themselves, hence it may be presumed that they are unable to rightly 
advise their children upon this subject. However 1 encourage obedience, 
for the girl who hastily rushec headlong into this serious affair will 
find plenty of time to repent. 

Six years have elapsed since I left the woman pictured, and she 
is the mother of three children. Now her life is exercised in supporting 
hardship; hers it is to minister to the wants of her master, provide for 
the children, care for the household, and rock the cradle. To her lot 
falls the duties which require continuous labor and patient endurance. 
So now she is not the happy girl you saw at the altar a few years ago, 
but she is an unhealthy and a disappointed woman. Though she has 
made a mistake, she is willing to bear her crosses, for when she becomes 
vexed at his ways, this declarative sentence, that she made at the sacred 
altar, enters her mind : "I will take him for better or for worse." 

On discovering that it is for the worse she takes a firm stand, and 
decides to abide by it. However she often becomes discouraged, for she 
is compelled to suffer degredation or starvation, and the different ills 
of life, in trying to please her lazy and dissipated husband, who is al- 
ways without a job. But the sense of duty spurs her on, and the in- 
fluence of a hope in Christ strengthens her. 

Who will dare to enumerate the hundreds of Negro women whose 
lives have been crushed, health destroyed, and have lived lives of sorrow; 
who, by proper care and treatment from husbands, would have made 
worthy mothers and noble wives? 

When one realizes the unhappy condition of homes caused by un- 
worthy husbands, how much their wives have suffered, and off t inns 
being compelled to perform the severest drudgery, when she is hardly 
able to go, we will not wonder why some women grow desperate and 



± <■ - ~»~ - - i. i - rrr 

n_7*±±Ie- _ . " tit 

us ~~ - i ■ : • 

i - - — 



— '. r - 







- 






--'. • 













▼ 






■ ■ 


r " 








hizz.- sir-?: in.! ; - - .. • - : r 

: 77 7H -. 7T7-71 17 7 17'" : __777_ 

- . . - - _. ; :; " - • • - ' . i : " : ' "-- - 

----- 7 77 "iif ~ - - : • : •" " - ■' ' " " "' "- " " 

' - ■ : 77 -. - f 7 1'-" J ' ' - ' 

571t > . : - " " " " " ' ~ " - 

~--- ,. : -v . :: - - 

* :7TL " :'* 7 r r" ■ : " 1 7 -" " '7 - - " - - • : - -'^ - -~ r ~ -" 

7 1 !E -. 1 • " - " ' ' " ' 

E r 1 7 ' " - . ■."' ." • 1 = 11 ' -' -' - 7 _ -1 7 17 7 7. : 7 7 7 1-711 ! 

- - - 1 " " " " = 

"c- il- - - - - ' - "i ': VI' 

- - - - ' - 

£77vL 17 17 7 " - 7 1 - 

. ; - - - 71. 7 7 1 

-- - " - 

irt". :iiivi thr ;•:.— :.-' - " 

£-v • • - ifv'in:^ i " 

" - : fl.Vf7.7V::.. 

ItII^-7 7 - "• ~-- - ' ' 

- " - -. 

71- 7 "■7177 7 77 7 1 7 ' f " ~: : V 7 77. ' ' 77 " . ^'r-1 "111. 

Ti.t ~;cr.t-r £7ni 71.1.1- 

Ti.-rrf it-; ". ~ ::r v_i:7 * * 

niv.-: 11.7 : .:i>vi 7' : 7 v-.i- - - S7v.1t vivi-ir.'? v«:v:T ? :i " - 

7v f .1. ■ •: ■ 1 - : > . "v vi \- . 777 :":.-: 1:1 7 v. xv. .5 ."--.■- : . . " 7 
. ■.■:.::. A: 1- v.v ? ii.v.'. 77 _ 

; ■ •" - ■ 1.1 vi7.ii: : - - ^r 



60 A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 

to help that woman you saw in the picture, care for her fatherless chil- 
dren. 

Perhaps you don't understand me; but to understand the situation 
thoroughly, take a glance into the different homes of unmarried mothers. 
Some of them feed and clothe their children at the expense of broken- 
hearted married women. Of course, there are exceptions, but every 
reader can call to mind instances which answer the description, to say 
nothing of the practices of polygamy which daily occur. The affections 
for a wife cannot amount to much when distributed among so many. 

The sting of a wasp is not more painful or keen than the fact that 
a husband is untrue. When such a pang as this is gnawing at her heart 
strings, and when she piles up all the responsibilities and obligations of 
a married life, the effect upon her spirit is overwhelming. 

This husband turns a deaf ear to the cries of his children for bread 
and the moans of his wife for comfort. No words can describe how bit- 
ter the draught is that this woman is drinking. 

However, many a wife, as she reads these pages, will depict the 
despair of this woman, and call to mind the unhappiness experienced 

The little girl that you saw in the picture administering to the 
wants of the infant is now sixteen years old. Instead of her father giv- 
ing her the proper care and assistance, he sits in public places and makes 
brags as to his shrewdness in capturing innocent girls and foolish 
women. However, he doesn't know that one of his hearers will follow 
his habits, take his methods, and rob his daughter of her character. 

It is a very hard matter for Negro mothers to raise virtuous girls, 
for the mother must go and leave the girl at home, or else she must send 
the girl out into service where she has the opportunity of being constantly 
allured by the charms of vice, for children born in destitute homes 
are easily caught in the snare hidden by the things for which they 
inherently crave. 

This girl inherited impure emotions from her father, so now she 
has left home and entered the slums. Yet he seems astonished as if 
he does not know the cause. 

How many young girls have been led astray, and their future use- 
fulness destroyed by following the footsteps of parents, or by parental 
neglect ! It is a certain fact, that if you neglect to lead them right, 
there are different avenues open to lead them wrong. They must be 
cared for, nourished and trained until they become strong enough to 
resist evil. 



A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 61 

Worn out in body and mind, and finding herself powerless to change 
her companion ; seeing her children go astray ; seeing that her good work 
and pure life is not appreciated ; falling short of other expectations, and 
seeing nothing but destruction in the pathway chosen, her hopes crum- 
ble and she becomes embittered. Then discouragement steps in and 
underminds her resolutions, weakens her will and leaves her in a de- 
praved and hysterical condition to pine away and fill a premature grave. 

Thus you see that the girl that went to the altar healthy, happy and 
strong, is now an unhealthy and miserable woman. 

Now you see her in a room 

That's desolate, cold and bare. 
But if you look closely 

You'll see that disease is there 
Eobbing her of the strength 

That household victories won, 
But none but her family knew 

How well her work was done. 

Friends notify her children 

Of her illness and her pain; 
Thus she lies there in agony 

And listens for the train. 
The girl comes home from wickedness, 

The boys come home from dives ; 
But she kisses, hugs and loves them 

As if they'd been obedient all their lives. 

She tells them how she suffered, 

And how her heart has bled 
For fear that the news would come 

That one of them was dead. 
She tells them that she's going to die, 

And is willing and ready to go 
From a land of misery and sin — 

From a land of woe. 

She says their evil ways have crushed 

Her life beneath their tread. 
She says her eyes with grief grows dim, 

And that she'll soon be dead. 



62 A WOMAN OF PROBITY. 

They stand around her bed and cry ; 

They regret their evil ways, 
For this thought surges in their breasts : 

You've shortened your mother's days. 

Husband and children are very sad 

Whilst she lies there in pain, 
For they know that her place 

Can not be filled again. 
Look! She is dead! 

What a noble record left; 
One that is pure and good 

To those she left bereft, 

The husband weeps and moans 

Over his sweet, dead wife, 
And proves that he loves her now 

Better than in her life. 
Of course he's in a state of remorse, 

For he thinks of his evil ways, 
And this thought surges in his breast: 

You've shortened your poor wife's days. 

So her form goes into the grave, 

Bent with burdens, trouble and pain, 
And her eyes that were dim with weeping 

Will never shed tears again. 
For her spirit has flown to heaven, 

That beautiful place of rest ; 
The home that Christ prepared 

For the pure and the blest. 



\ 



64 A WRECKED HOME. 

A WRECKED HOME. 

I will picture another woman who made a mistake in marriage, 
but she is not so strong in character as the first pictured. However 
she tried to please her husband, and was willing to perform the dif- 
ferent duties of a married life. But she has been driven to recklessness 
not from choice, but rather from neglect and hardship. Her hus- 
band was tolerable shrewd, and handled a fair amount of money, 
but he did not spend much of it on his family. She would see other 
women wtih comforts that she ought to have, and knowing that her 
husband was not doing his duty by the family, she became mad- 
dened. Finally she became weakened under the load of disappoint- 
ments and began to invite immorality into her home. 

Now her heart is not her husbands any more; it was once his, 
but he did not endeavor to retain it. If he had treated her right all 
would have been well, but as he neglected her, the family circle is 
wrecked. 

Once this woman was honored and respected, but she followed her 
husband down, down, down, until she took on his habits. 

He deceived her for months, and then grew bold in his sin. But 
she not only deceives, for the allurements of the immorality that she 
invited into her home has led her astray. Hence her life is hardened, 
polluted and impure, and she is not fit to fill the holy place of a mother, 
for she is willing to leave home, live a life of disgrace and drag her 
children into the abyss of ruin with her, rather than obey an offensive 
husband. 

In the preceding chapter you saw a woman's brow marred with 
care, her eyes dim with sorrow and her form bowed with troubles, 
suffering and burdens, simply because she had made a mistake in 
selecting a companion for life. It is not surprising that some women, 
who realize their unfortunate situation, become worried over fruitless 
expectations, and plan ways for escape. However all that escape from 
the miseries of unhappy homes do not enter the slums. But some 
have too much fortitude to be imposed upon, or even sink under the 
load of disappointments. They feel their strength, are conscious of 
their powers, and canont conceive that they were meant for so narrow 
a sphere as that of a slave for one who should be a companion. Hence 
they feel an irresistable impulse to launch out and work in order to 
live easier and happier. Therefore there are grass widows whose char- 
acter is unquestionable. 



A WRECKED HOME. 65 



But on the other hand there are others whose lives have become 
obdurate, and they fail to delight in virtue because it has been deaden- 
ed by the continuance of misfortunte, poverty and misery. The head 
of the family should protect and provide for it, for a large portion of 
the wife's time is necessarily taken up by peculiar cares. A woman is 
but a feeble creature, hence her constitution will not permit her to 
go through the snow and rain and perform her duties at home. 

Any race, where the wife is looked upon more as a slave than a 
companion, the females fail to possess the proper amount of dignity 
and modesty. That is why some of our women act rough and of- 
fensive instead of acting with pudicity. 

How few of our men contemplate marriage obligations with any 
degree of seriousness. They coquet with first one and another, thus 
paving the way for the continuance of immoral practices. 

The woman that I have pictured was once respected, and could 
have made a good wife by right treatment. However, through birth or 
environment, the rays of virtue never was deeply entrenched into her 
nature, there, by being weak, she was easily drawn into snares. 

The destruction of this family is inevitable, and the future actions 
of this woman is not difficult to surmise, for the plain and serious 
truth is this: She has lost the affections she once cherished for her 
husband ; she has lost the respect she once had for herself ; she is will- 
ing to live a life of disgrace and drag her two little girls into the 
abyss of ruin with her. 

When one realizes the unhappy condition of homes caused by un- 
worthy husbands, how much their wives have suffered, and oft- 
times being compelled to perform the severest drudgery in the midst of 
aches and pains, he will not wonder why some grow desperate, and 
fill the alleys of cities to live lives of disgrace. 

The man pictured is partly responsible for the misfortunes of this 
family, but what does he care? He can go with some of the best women, 
and is just as highly respected as other men. 

Suppose the same dishonor was attached to male debauchers, which 
stigmatizes women of the same profession; would there not be a better 
state of affairs in society? It would be a moral code which is sorely 
needed; it would partly check the careless habit which is practiced by 
so many men; and it would make worthier fathers and husbands. 

It is no part of the aim of this chapter to put all of the fault 



66 



A WRECKED HOME. 



od the man; but it does aim to show you that the larger percentage of 
miserable homes are caused by the careless habit of husbands. 

Nevertheless I do not think that the unhappy circumstances of a 
woman's life justifies her in going astray. For it would have been 
better for this woman to have toiled from morning until night, and 
made an honest living, thus entrenching pure principles into the hearts 
of her little girls, and gone into the grave with an honest soul and a 
clear conscience, than to have enjoyed the pleasures of life that are 
paltry, and go into the grave with an unhealthy body which has been a 
vile encasement of matter, filled with sin and vice. 

The parents who are living as the family pictured, can not be 
criticised austerelv enough. 

Now, I sincerely hope that these words will reach their hearts, 
and stir their consciences in such a way as to make them look at their 
responsibilities as parents, and pledge themselves to live pure lives, 
and prepare their children for adult life, so that they can take a true 
place in the family, society, church and state. 

May the young men choose worthy girls for wives, and give them 
the honor, love and respect due. 

And may the young girls look well before they decide who they 
will enter the voyage of a married life with. Then, after entering it, 
make true, obedient and loving wives. 




DR. B. R. BLUITT'S 

X-Ray and Static Machine, one of the 

Largest and Best Equipped in the 

South. 



THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 67 

THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 

"lis quite sad to see a hard working man 
With no companion to help him plan, 
But with one who is always ready to go 
Into places that's immoral and low. 

This man works very hard, 
And often comes home hungry and tired. 
His wife looks very clean and neat, 
But lias not cooked anything to eat. 

Sometimes she has something cold, 
But if he complains, she's ready to scold 
Him; and says he's never pleased. 
However, he's easily appeased. 

If she hasn't cooked supper, she prepares it in haste, 
Nor does she care how it tastes, 

For this vile woman of sin 

Does not even respect him. 

But when a man fails to support 
The wife has a right to retort, 
And fail to cook his meals to eat, 
When he knows not her how to treat. 

They point at her, they look at him, 

Living with a wife of shame and sin, 

And say. "Oh, what a pity!" 

lie could have married the best girl in the city. 

Now he sees his mistake, 

But alas, alas, it is too late, 

For he loves this immoral quean 

And cannot himself from her wean. 



68 



THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 



And cannot himself from her wean. 



This woman has two children 

To behold her in sin. 

She is not training them in the right way, 

But is leading them astray. 






She sends her dear 

Little boy to town for beer; 

And the little girl, poor child ! 

*Twill not be long before she'll be beguiled 

And lead from home, 

Out in the cold world to roam. 

And live an unchaste life. 

Or marry, and make an untrue wife. 

When a man supports his wife 

She should live an honest life, 

Keep a nice, clean home, 

And have something cooked when he comes. 

This woman pictured hasn't anything to do 

But attend to her two 

Children, and keep her home, 

But she doesn't do this right, for wanting to roam. 

I long to see the day 

When the women, widows and young girls will say, 

"Though we be Negroes, we will be good, 

And raise the standard of womanhood." 

When they say it sincerely 
You will know that the time is nearly 
At hand for the end of their pollution, 
And also the time for the solution 



Of one of the strangest problems presented to man, 
And one of the hardest to understand. 



THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 

For hundreds of years he's been working at it, 
But hasn't been able to solve it yet. 

Tis bad in see a good woman with a man that's mean. 



69 




DR. R. F. BOYD, NASHVILLE. TENN.. 
Successful Practitioner, Owner and Manager of a Magnificent Hospital. 

But worse to see a good man with a quean. 
However, 'twill look more pleasing in God's siliIm 
For both to be pure and upright. 



70 



THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE. 

I know »you cannot fail 

To understand this tale. 
Now, all who decide to wed, 
Make up your minds to let it be said 

That you entered the voyage of a married life 
To make an industrious and honest wife. 
Yes, let this be an omen, 
That you'll make a virtuous woman. 

<• 

Young men, when you select women 

Who are to become mothers of your children, 

Don't select one that's not worthy of imitation, 

If you do, you may expect privation. 

You may expect to be deceived. 
And you may expect to be grieved 
Over the example of her 
Who should have made a good mother. 

Young men. be careful who you wed. 
And let it of you be said. 
That you acted prudent and wise 
And selected a valuable prize. 

Young men, let me adjure 
You to honor women that's pure; 
Treat them with honor and respect, 
But don't encourage them to be abject. 

Encourage your sister or wife 
To elevate herself above the life 
Of the woman that's untrue ; 
I mean the woman in the picture. 






A MODEL FAMILY. 7 1 

A MODEL FAMILY IN A MODEL HOME. 

Look at this picture and you will see 

A man and woman that's wary. 

There is not another 

That they love, like they do each other. 

Cupid sent his darts 

Through their hearts 

Before they went to the altar to proclaim 

To be called by the same name. 

This woman weighed the responsibility of a married life 

Before she decided to become his wife, 

And as he stood by his bride 

He felt that there was not another in this wide 

World, as dear to him as the wife 

That he had chosen for life. 

Hence you see 

That this is a model family. 

By foresight they did hoard 
Useful things in this abode. 
'Throughout the city it is known 
That this is a model family, in a model home. 
Why is this a model family? 
It is because they agree, 
And they haven't any desire to roam 
Because this is a model home. 

Step in and tell me if you've ever seen 

A home more neat and clean. 

I know that you've seen finer things. 

But have you ever seen things arranged 

In a nicer or better way? 

If you answer correctly, you will say nay. 

Then after you notice their habits you can see clear 

That a model family lives here. 

Step in the parlor and you will see 
Furniture of no mean degree. 
■ Everything's arranged in order; 

The walls are covered with paper that has a lovely border; 




z 
o 

UJ 

cc 

UJ 
> 

o 



o 
z 
< 



o 
z 
o 
o 

UJ 

z 

UJ 

cc 

UJ 

I 

UJ 

o 

I 

_l 

UJ 

Q 

o 



A MODEL FAMILY. 73 

There are nice curtains over each window ; 

And a beautiful carpet upon the floor. 

The pictures are hung in a stylish way 

And there's an instrument on which you can play. 

Go in the bed room and look 

In every corner and nook, 

And you will say, I must 

Eeturn without finding any dust. 

The furniture is well adjusted, 

And it has been carefully dusted, 

All of it is clean — even the bed, quilts, 

Towels, sheets and pillowslips. 

One of the most charming departments of this home 
Is the comfortable and serviceable dining room 
Which contains chairs, a table, tablecloth, doilies, 
Pictures, a refrigerator, sideboard and disbes. 
If you go in there, you will say, 
"Everything is arranged in a stylish way. 
You will also discern that she knows bow to cook, 
And had too much foresight to stop at the book. 

When you go in the pantry and behold 

The place where the provisions are stored, 

You will readily see 

That this man provides for his family. 

However, this woman of taste 

Is economical, and does not waste 

clothing, food or anything 

That her husband sees fit to biing. 

Now go in the kitchen and look 

At the place where she cooks. 

You will not see any greese on the door. 

But you will see a nice, clean floor. 

And when you look at the buckets, pans, knives, 

Closet, towels and table, you'll say that all wives 

Should keep this department clean and neat, 

So that their food would be fit to eat. 



74 



A MODEL FAMILY. 



If you look into the country or cities 
Casually, you'll see Negro families 
That not only possess domes, 
But possess model homes. 




REV. E. W. LAMPTON, D. D., 

Financier, prominent fraternalist. General Secretary and Treasurer of 
the A. M. E. Church General Financial Connectional Department, 
Headquarters at Washington. D. C. Promotion to the A. M. E. 
Bishopric is the cherished desire of a million followers in the 
A. M. E. Church. 



A MODEL FAMILY. 75 

The wives are living in a way to lift up others, 

And making good and pious mothers, 

By living pure and virtuous lives 

And making industrious and useful wives. 

The men are making good husbands and fathers, too, 

And showing others the way to do 

By being emulous, living industrious lives; 

Loving their children, and supporting their wives. 

It takes economy to make a model home, 

But love must sit upon the throne 

To keep peace there, 

And another thing needed is family prayer. 

The picture of this home 

Is quite different to the preceding ones. 

However vou will agree 

That all Negroes are not of the same degree. 

One picture would not reach the masses, 

Hence I've pictured four different classes. 

I hope you'll be benefitted by the information given, 

And decide to be united ; but not riven. 

I am glad that the race can boast of a few 

Who are intelligent, industrious, honest and true, 

And are doing all they can to help the race 

Rise and take its place. 

The habits of this family should incite 

Every Negro family to do right, 

And let it be known 

That they possess a model home. 

I hope each man will look at the first picture 

Until he decides to not let sin allure 

Him from performing his duties at home, 

And until he decides not to roam 

To places of immorality, 

But show to the world validity, 

And show the world that you can 

Be a worthy father and good husband. 



76 A MODEL FAMILY. 

May each woman look at the third and become disgusted 

And prove to the world that she can be trusted ; 

Matters not where her husband goes, or how long he stays, 

No one can justly critize her ways. 

Do not be unchaste and silly, • 

But be pure like the lily. 

May your husband have confidence in you 

And may you be worthy of it by being true. 

Look at the first picture and see 
The woman who lived and died in misery, 
Then look at her husband with contempt, 
And decide to reform and not attempt 
To hurry your wives to the grave 
When it's in your power to save 
Them from many a sorrow, pain or ache, 
Nor should you extra trouble make. 

Then look at this -picture and decide 

In a model home to abide ; 

'T would be better and wiser, don't you see, 

If every family 

Would live like this representation, 

Then throughout every Nation 

'Twould be known 

About the model Negro families in model homes. 

You may not have a home like this one, 

However, you can keep yours clean ; it can be done 

With a little energy and skill, 

And if you will 

You can be a model family, tho' you live in a hut. 

You may own a palace but 

You'll never be happy, unless you agree 

To be a model family. 

• 

Throughout the world it is known 
That all Nations came from homes. 
But the model Nations, don't you see, 
Came from a model ancestry. 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 77 

A model is an example or representation 
Worthy of remodeling or imitation. 
Now, if you want to be imitated by your posterity. 
Be a model family. 

Though your home be a hut, cottage or palace, 

You must keep everything in its place, 

To make it look nice 

And to entice 

Your children to be clean and industrious. 

So that their lives will be lustrious. 

When you do this, 'twill be known 

That you're model families in model homes. 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 
By Mrs. C. Minnie Allen. 
We hear so much nowadays about the Negro and the race question 
that many of us are getting tired of the whole subject. This may be 
natural, but it is hardly wise. Just as surely as we wish to live as men 
and women, and not forever exist as underlings, "hewers of wood and 
drawers of water to the rest of the congregation," we must give this 
question earnest thought and careful consideration. The white man 
is never tired of discussing those things that will tend to keep the white 
race ahead. He spends his nights in planning; he spends his days in 
performing. While other races are sleeping, his mind is at work, trying 
to discover some new way to keep the Caucasian far ahead of them all. 
Of him is certainly true the words of the poet: 

"The heights by great men reached and kept 
Were not attained by sudden flight, 
But they, while their companions slept, 
Were toiling upward in the night." 

This race question is a question that most intimately concerns us 
all. Like Banquo's ghost, it will not "down at our bidding." Negro 
blood is so very powerful; it has such tremendous force that just one 
drop of it in a man or a woman's veins, if known, is sufficient to out- 
weigh a million drops of Caucasian blood, and to stamp him or her as 
one of the maligned, contemned race in every corner of this broad land. 



78 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 



We want our ace to rise. We are tired of always occupying the 
place at the foot of the ladder. We are tired of being looked upon as 
unclean creatures simply because God saw fit to make our skins dark. 
We want to convince the world that: 




That: 



RT. REV. MOSES B. SALTER, D. D., LL. D., 
Twenty-First Bishop of the A. M. E. Church. 

"Fleecy locks and black complexion 
Cannot forfeit Nature's claim:" 

"Skins may differ, but affection 
Dwells in white and black the same." 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 79 

Our race has certainly risen a long way since Abraham Lincoln, 
commissioned of God, srtuck the shackles from three millions of ig- 
norant, down-trodden slaves. But 'tis a long distance to the top of the 
mountain. What will it profit us to go one thousand miles up the 
mountain's brow and rest there, when its summit, where wealth and hap- 
piness lie, is twenty-five thousand miles beyond? The colored race has 
indeed made wonderful progress. When we consider the depths from 
which we came and the plane to which, in spite of the immoral, de- 
basing influences of slavery, we have ascended, we are constrained to 
exclaim, "Truly God has done marvelous things for us, whereof we are 
glad." But God expects us to do our part. "He helps those who help 
themselves." If we creep along as children, looking to God for every- 
thing and making no effort ourselves, we shall always bring up the rear. 
"With God, all things are possible." If we would reach the goal of true 
happiness, prosperity and enlightenment, we must put our shoulders to 
the wheel and strive earnestly to do our part. Of our race is especially 
true the words of Longfellow: 

"All are architects of Fate working in these halls of Time." 
God grant that every man, every woman, every child belonging to 
the Negro race may awaken to a sense of the responsibility resting upon 
them to do their part toward the uplifting of our people from their 
present unhaapy condition to a position that shall command the respect 
of the civilized world ! 

I request your earnest attention while I endeavor to speak of some 
things which, in my judgment, are necessary to our salvation. In the 
time allotted me, it is impossible even to refer to all the important 
matters, but, with your kind permission, I'll speak of a few of them. 

All over this Southland are schools, both public and private, from 
the primary school to that bearing the high-sounding title of university, 
devoted to the upbuilding of the colored race. Our boys and our girls, 
our yong men and our maidens, are flocking to them. This is a matter 
for the greatest rejoicing, for an educated mi ml is a most valuable pos- 
session. It is valuable, not alone for the dollars and cents to be made 
out of it; it is far more valuable, in my opinion, -because of the oppor- 
tunities for elevating humanity it affords — for the happiness it confers 
on its possessor. Few really educated people would exchange their edu- 
cation for the wealth of a Rockefeller, if coupled with that wealth were 
the condition that they should remain in ignorance. A cultivated mind 
— a mind able to revel in all the beauties of literature — one able to think 



80 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 




MRS. OLLIE L. BRYAN, D. D. S., 

The only colored lady practicing dentistry in the South. First and only 
lady graduate of Meharry Dental College. Practicing at 115 Boll 
Street, Dallas, Texas. 






A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 81 

for itself and to think aright — one able to take in and enjoy the master 
thoughts of the world's master minds — one that can rise far above the 
dross, the mire of common, soul-debasing thoughts and acts and soar to 
serene heights sacred to lofty spirits — this, indeed, is a most blessed gift. 
But alas ! education does not always have this result, and consequently 
education is not the greatest thing in life. It can not take the place of 
morality. Many an uneducated man, many an uneducated woman (T 
speak of education in its sense of book knowledge) is as true a gentleman 
as ever lived, as perfect a lady as ever walked stainless through this 
sinful earth. And, by the same token, many a bad man — many a wom- 
an who is a disgrace to her sex, has a fair education. All of the world's 
heroes and heroines are not educated; all of the world's scoundrels and 
courtesans are not ignorant. But, all things considered, an education 
is a most desirable acquisition. How many fathers among us are toiling 
day in and day out, with tired body and harassed mind! How many 
mothers are bending over the cook stove or wash tub until they almost 
drop with fatigue, in order to give their sons and daughters a good 
education ! God bless such fathers and mothers ! God forbid that these 
children should ever prove unworthy of the great sacrifices made for 
them ! 

No race can rise if it be ignorant. Booker T. Washington long ago 
discovered one grand truth — a truth which the white educators are "pro- 
claiming from every house top" and which they are beginning to use 
in the development of their own race, viz : that to make a well-rounded, 
symmetrical man or woman, we must educa.te the head, the hand, and 
the heart. 

Education is a grand thing; wealth is a grand thing; but, after all, 
"what constitutes a State ?" What makes a nation gTeat ? It is its men, 
its women. We know that the white race prides itself on its high, 
chivalrous manhood, on its virtuous, incorruptible womanhood. All of 
us know that there are many low, depraved men, many vile, abandoned 
women among them. We know that some of them have committed 
crimes diabolical enough to cause Satan himself to shudder. But we 
know also that the world does not judge the white race by its worst 
element. Every one of us here tonight knows that it does judge the 
colored race by its worst element. A crime committed by a white man 
or a white woman is marked only against that man or that woman; no 
other member of the race is hold responsible. But all of us are fully 
aware of the fact that a crime committed by a colored man or a colored 



82 A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 

woman is marked against the whole race. This is grossly unfair, but, 
much as we deplore the fact, we cannot change it. Unfortunately the 
evil-doers among us are frequently so loud-mouthed, so indifferent to 
public opinion, so lost to self-respect, so lacking in the shame that even 
a dumb animal might have, that the enemies of the race can wag their 
heads and exclaim, "Aha! what did I tell you about the Negro's morals? 
Don't you see the proof right before your eyes ?" while our friends are 
disappointed and grieved at this new evidence (?) of the depravity of 
the Negro race, for so alas! it is regarded. 

We have a terrible tide to contend against. And here let me quote 
the words of Scripture: "Come out from among them, be ye separate, 
said the Lord God Almighty." If our good associate with our bad, what 
wonder is it that we are charged with uncleanness ? "What fellowship 
hath good with evil? what communion hath light with darkness?" asks 
the Apostle Paul. "Birds of a feather will flock together" is an axiom 
in which all the respectable part of the world believes. Swine will asso- 
ciate with swine. However much we may pity a rascally man, we lower 
our character and injure our reputation by becoming his companion, 
for "We cannot touch pitch without becoming defiled." However much 
we may pity a swinish woman, we commit a crime against our race 
when we put her on a level with the good and pure by associating with 
her. Why should we put those who have wallowed in the gutter with 
those whose characters are spotless? Why should we put vultures on 
the same plane with doves? What incentive have our girls to do right 
when they see those who have lived (and sometimes are living) in de- 
fiance of the laws of God and man, as much sought after, and, as far as 
treatment is concerned, as much respected as chaste widows and virtuous 
daughters and loyal wives ? What will your daughters think about re- 
sisting temptation when they see you upholding the daughters of other 
men and women who have, with their eyes wide open, done what they 
knew was wrong? Oh, dear brothers, dear sisters, the race or com- 
munity that cloaks evil or winks at wrong-doing will awake some day 
alas ! to find that evil has gained a terrible ascendency over them. The 
weeds and brambles we help to cultivate in our neighbor's garden may 
some day spread and take root in our own. If we would have our own 
boys noble, let us not laugh at "the wild oats" sown by our neighbor's 
boys; if we would have our girls pure, let us honor purity, let us frown 
on impurity. We can love the sinner, but we should hate the sin; 
how can we show that we hate the sin, when we clasp the sinner to our 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 



83 



hearts, and, as far as outward appearances are concerned, honor them 
as much as we honor the high-souled men, the noble women, and the 
pure, sweet girls among us? Let us learn to honor virtue; let us learn 
to frown on vice. Let us be careful of the company we keep. "No 
company at all is better than bad company." But none of us need be 
condemned to solitude; there are many men and women and girls in 




REV. W. H. DURDEN, 
Pastor of the A. M. E. Church, Paris, Texas. 



Fort Worth as high-souled, as noble, and as pure as there are in any town 
on the face of God's green earth. 

Is the task before us too great? I answer most emphatically, no! 
No worthy task is too hard for a high-souled man; no good work is too 
difficult for a pure, noble-minded woman. We need manhood and 
womanhood more than anything else. We need men who will rise above 



84 



A PLBA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 



all that is low and debasing. We need men who will look down on evil. 
We need men who will suffer death rather than stoop to anything dis- 
honorable. We need men whose integrity is incorruptible. We need 
men who will do right though the devil with all his cohorts should tempt 
them to do wrong. We need men whose minds will not feast on vile- 
ness. We need men who will not seek to pull down our women. We 







D. W. SHIELDS, A. M., M. D., 

Physician and Surgeon, Dallas, Texas. 

Of Alcorn University and Flint Medical College. 



need men who will not try to be like animals in giving the rein to their 
evil passions, but men who will live on a high plane— a plane that lies 
in sunlight, riot in darkness, where creeping things abound. We need 
men who prefer purity to debauchery. Unless God is mistaken — and 
who among us can be so blasphemous as to believe that ? — and the Bible 
a lie, honor is as possible to men as to women. No matter what Satan 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. S5 

says, no matter what evil-minded men and women say, God made man 
in His own image, and God gave man the strength of character, if he 
will use it, to do right, if he wants to. The Ten Commandments are 
as binding on men as on women. If man be the stronger creature — 
"the lord of creation" as he delights to call himself — he should be even 
stronger to resist temptation than woman. It is needless to say that 
the white man breaks the Ten Commandments; God will not hold us 
responsible for the white man's sins, but for our own. It is almost 
heart-rending to those of us who really love our race — and seek to prove 
it by "deeds, not words'' — to those of us who love our race too well to 
disgrace it — it is almost heart-rending, I repeat, to see so many of our 
people patterning after the white man's vices. If we canont copy his 
virtues, let us not copy anything. It is well for us to think over these 
things, my brothers. Let us prove the lie of the awful charge trumpeted 
by our enemies from ocean to ocean, that the Negroes are an immoral 
race, that virtue is no more regarded among us than among brutes, and 
that the good and the bad all associate together and draw no dividing 
line between the pure and the proflgate. You have all read this charge ; 
it is useless to get angry about it; the best way to prove that it is a lie 
is to live lives above reproach. Think over this when you are alone at 
night with your God, and solemnly promise Him that, with His help, 
you will not prostitute your talents, but will rise above all the weakness 
that Satan seeks to instill in you, into the grandeur of a pure, an incor- 
ruptible manhood. What, after all, is the good of spending your life 
in the pursuit of unholy pleasures which drag a man down? What 
enjoyment is there in doing those things which you know are degrading? 
What does it profit a man to break the hearts of those who love him by 
wallowing in sin? What comfort does he obtain from the knowledge 
that he is grieving the heart of his Christian mother by his dissipations? 
What real happiness does he find in bringing sorrow on the wife whom 
he solemnly swore, before God and man, "to love and to cherish until 
death them do part?" Do her bitter tears make him feel manlier? 
What does he gain by such baseness? Ah, dear brothers, turn your 
back on Sodom; strive for "things that arc higher, things that are 
nobler." Even though you should fall and get into the mire again, rise 
from it without delay, and make another effort, determined by God's 
grace and the manhood He has implanted in you, to stand for tin- right, 
to do the right, to help your erring brethren see the right — and never, 
never cease your efforts until life itself ceases, and the God of purity 
calls you from labor to reward. 



86 A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 

If our race needs good men, what, oh, what! must be its need of 
good women? As the woman is, the race is. We all know how the 
white race glories in its women. We all know that they will shoot 
one another down in cold blood for a wrong done a wife, a daughter, 
a sister, or any of their female connection. We all know alas; that our 
enemies are always taunting us about our women. Many a colored man 
has felt his blood boil when he heard some white man speak contem- 
ptuously of Negro women. I believe that there are as high-souled men, 
as pure, noble hearted women among our race as among any race God 
ever created. I believe that we have them right here in our midst — 
right here in Fort Worth. But alas! how often have we had to hang 
our heads with shame because of the actions of some our evil-minded 
women! Oh, it is a grand thing to be a woman — to be a pure, noble 
woman ! Everything created in the form of a woman is not a woman, 
if womanhood be necessary to make a real woman. Some have only the 
form of woman; their minds, their conduct, put them on a level with 
the most unclean animals. We want our colored womanhood to be the 
equal of any. In refinemnt, in culture, in polish, in propriety, in 
godness, in amiability, in that which is the crown of true womanhood, 
viz : virtue, we want our women to be without a superior. We want all 
our women to cultivate their minds and not keep them on the level of 
a child's. Bread-and-butter misses, filled with vanity and giddiness, are 
attractive ony to a man lacking in real wisdom. No sensible, well- 
balance man seeks the companionship of a butterfly. We want our 
women to be interested in all that concerns the elevation of our race. 
We want our women to be everywhere, at home, at church, on the 
streets, models of propriety — ladies in every movement. We want them 
to have high ideals, and to strive to reach those ideals. We want them 
to be pure "in thought, in word, and in deed." It must indeed be a low 
woman that does not feel like blushing for shame when she realizes 
that some man in the world knows that she has proved herself to be 
unworthy of the respect and honor due true womanhood. We want our 
women ever to bear in mind the fact that every man (except one who is 
of very low blood, no matter what his position may be) way, way down 
in his heart respects a pure woman. We want them always to remember 
that neither good looks, nor glowing youth, nor fine dress, nor winning 
ways can compensate for the loss of honor. We want them to guard 
that no eye but God's could see them, declare — and live up to their 
their honor as their. life. Oh, that they would, even though they knew 






A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 87 

declaration — I think too much of myself to lower myself by doing 
what 1 know to be wrong! 

Dear brothers, dear sisters, let us hold the standard high. Allow 
me to repeat a few things: Let us not associate with impurity. Let 
us help one another to a high plane. Let us give the hand to lift up — 
not do all we can, by giving way to our sinful passions, to pull our race 
into the gutter. God made no law too hard for men with real manhood 
and women with real womanhood to keep. If we love our race, let us 
show it by lives that will reflect credit upon it, not by doing things 
that will cover it with dishonor. If you will think over the matter 
with a sober, unprejudiced mind, you will see that one vicious man, one 

immoral woman can do more to drag our race down, in the estimation 
of the world, than bad white men can do by a dozen lynchings. If we 
love our race, how can we do things to degrade it? Cut off our right 
hand, if need be, if with that hand we would pull our race down. Resist 
temptation. Do not let the devil delude you with the idea that it is 
necessary for a man to be untrue to the ideas of right and purity he 
learned at his mother's knee. God never said, "Let women keep the 
Ten Commandments; they were not intended for men to keep." As I 
have already said, unless the Bible be a book of lies, He will hold every 
man just as accountable for them as He holds every woman. Let us 
show our manhood and our womanhood in every word, in every act. 
Let us think too much of ourselves to do anything that would degrade 
us. If we degrade ourselves, we degrade our race. Ah, if we really 
love our race, we will not deliberately do one single thing to bring re- 
proach upon it, just as a man who really loves his mother will never 
deliberately do one thing to wring her heart or dishonor her memory 
or disgrace the name she gave him. I feel, I believe, that each one here 
will do everything in his or her power to show our enemies, as well 
as our friends, that colored men and colored women are as capable of a 
grand, lofty manhood and a pure, virtuous, stainless womanhood, as 
any race that ever occupied this earth. Oh, let this sink not only into 
your minds, but into your hearts. 

May our men be men of honor, 

Men whose worth foul slander shames; 

May they be as true as Truth is, 
Men of high and noble aims. 



88 A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 

May they fit themselves for living, 

Educate head, heart, and hand, 
Make themselves in civic virtues 

Peers of any in this land. 

Let no race respect their women 

More than we respect our own; 
Let us learn to honor Virtue, 

Place our women on a throne. 
Let us treat the sisters, daughters, 

And the wives of other men, 
As we'd have our own be treated; 

Naught would clog our progress then. 

Oh, my brothers, is it manly 

To lead colored girls astray? 
Is it well to keep our ace down 

By thus blocking Virtue's way? 
God in His own image made you, 

You have heard time and again: 
Scorn to stoop to vice and folly ; 

Be not human swine, but men. 

May our women e'er endeavor 

To attain the highest good : 
Strive to be, in real merit, 

Models of true womanhood. 
Dress, accomplishments, wealth, beauty, 

Virtue's place can not supply : 
As the woman is, the race is : 

If she fail us, Hope must die. 

May each one of us here tonight declare, I will do my very best to 
elevate my race by cultivating every noble quality the Almighty has im- 
planted in me, and thus making the very best possible of myself, for I 
think too much of my race — I respect my father too highly — I love my 
mother too dearly — I prize my good name too truly, to live in the mire 
of sin and shame and what I know is degradation, with dissolute men 
and unchaste women. I am capable of higher, nobler things, and 1 
will show it by living a clean, unselfish life, above reproach and above 



A PLEA FOR HIGHER LIVING. 



89 



suspicion — except from those who, low as curs themselves, endeavor by 
falsehoods, bv the blackest lies, by the grossest perjury, to bring good 
men and women down to their own base level. We can not prevent vile 
32 

men and women from slandering us, and we can not prevent weak- 
minded people from believing them. The purer we are, the more anxious 
are the human hyenas to destroy us. Jesus Christ was most atrociously 
slandered, and put to an ignominoius death as the wickedest of men, and 
is the servant above his Master? But we can live such lives that the 
envenomed arrows of the serpent-tongued slanderers will fall from us 




MR. L. W. WALKER (Lamented). 

without harming us, in the estimation of all who have upright character 
and good judgment. 

L»et us go on, undiseouraged, doing our very best, as individuals and 
as a Christian Endeavor Society to lift humanity to a higher plane, 
remembering that: 

"Heaven is not reached al a single hound, 
But we build the ladder by which we rise 
Prom the Lowly earth to the vaulted skies: 
And we mount to its summit round by round." 



90 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGKO. 

Inasmuch as Christ is a friend to the race it is its duty to follow 
Him, commit itself to the ordering of His providence, and say, "Not 
my will, Lord, but thine be done." 

Though • vague fears haunt and disturb our homes ; though we 
are continually burdened with misfortunes; though our enemies plot 




OUR SAVIOR PRESENTING AN INVITATION OF 

LOVE. 

against us, and though we are surrounded with misery and want; yet 
we can say Christ is our friend. 

He came from heaven, suffered, toiled, sacrificed and died, to save 
souls and help the distressed. 

And now He stands with outstretched arms and offers peace, rest 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. *91 

and pardon to a race that is stigmatized, oppressed, crushed and en- 
slaved. 

Every jesture of His hand invites it to come, and every sound of 
His voice is accented with love. 

Listen! through every chapter in the Bible He warns it of danger 
in the downward road, and encourages it to come to Him. 

But many are refusing the offer and are hearing His warnings in 
vain; notwithstanding they know what the consequences will be. 

Being aware of His power, all should listen to His commanding 
voice with fear and trembling. For to disobey God is the most dan- 
generous error that can ever curse a race. Even the thought of being in 
the hands of the Great King girded with power should make us more 
obedient. 

Though great, He is also good, for He is willing to forgive those 
who have set in open defiance his laws; though rich, nevertheless He 
stands willing and ready to help all classes and conditions of the race; 
though poor, yet His Holy Spirit is knocking on the hearts 
of the vilest transgressors in order to enter their lives and make them 
better ; though holy, He pities and sympathizes with sinners. 

And the great aim of Him is the saving of souls; it was this aim 
that lead Him from heaven to earth. 

He died for us, and now He is willing to lift up the whole race, 
if it will put away its abominations and follow him. 

He persuades, He expostulates, He invites, and He offers different 
encouragements throughout the Bible to accept His offer, and strongly 
warns it of His wrath if it refuses. 

However, the majority of our people are traveling the broad road 
that leads to destruction, where they have no promises of the future 
but pain and misery; still they are going through enough misery 
here to make them loathe sin and Satan and seek refuge in Christ. 

Look ! Satan stands and laughs because so many have been fooled 
by his strategy and are coming to him for eternal damnation. And his 
shrewdness is nowhere more exercised than in the institution among 
people involving immorality and crime. We see men and women alike 
plunging into the mad scene of dissipation. 

From the day of mother Eve in the garden until now he has been 
sending out serpent? to beguile and lead her astray, and she has also 
been leading men astray. 

Satan is using his influence and force in a way to lead the race 



92 GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 

from its only true friend. But as long as his allurement draw the ma- 
jority of our people downward; as long as polygamy is the prevailing 
sentiment; as long as the environments are friendly towards vice; as 
long as reason fails, warnings are heard in vain, blessings spurned and 
chastisements despised, it will be vain to look for better conditions. 

We cannot fool God by playing ignorant ; we cannot convince other 
nations that we do not know any better; nor can we console our con- 
sciences by imagining immoral practice to be a necessity. 

However, there are abundant passages in the Holy Book that teach 
God's displeasure at disobedience. But is there one passage that sanc- 
tions disregard for even the smallest requirement? 

Eead the Bible from Genesis to Eevelations and answer this ques- 
tion: What caused the Israelites to be oppressed? It was their sins, 
follies and disobedience. Therefore God permitted the Egyptians to 
enslave and inflict numerous kinds of punishment on them. 

But when the Israelites became sorry for their follies and sins God 
bade Pharaoh let them go, for He had selected a place where this heart- 
broken race might live in peace and serve Him. 

But I imagine that when their backs were smarting under the heavy 
burdens put upon them by masters, they would ask themselves these 
questions : Does God see us ; does He know of our suffering ; will He 
answer prayers? 

Yes, He knew of their sorrows and afflictions, and when He had 
suffered them to be punished enough He looked upon them with an 
eye of pity, planned a way for their escape, and sent out a leader to 
guide them on the journey. 

Pharaoh tried to prevent them from going, and some of the 
Israelites thought it impossible to escape Pharaoh's wrath by way of the 
Red Sea. 

But with God all things are possible. He devised ways for their 
escape through the Red Sea; He devised ways for our foreparents' es- 
cape from slavery through war, and if we obey His voice He will 
devise ways for the solution of the vexed problem. 

He selected Moses to lead the children of Israel, and bade them 
follow. However, the way seemed both toilsome and dangerous; it 
was not across a plain, with no obstacles in the way. 

Suppose the Israelites had disobeyed God's command and had at- 
tempted to climb the mountain on one side, or had they attempted to es- 
cape through the desert on the other, or had they attempted to drive 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 



93 



back Pharaoh's army at their back, they would have been destroyed. 

To-day God bids us go forward to the promised land; hence 't's 
our duty to obey; 'twill be useless for us to try to scale the mount? in 
on our right, or cross the desert on our left, neither can we drive back 




HON. N. W. CUNEY, A. M. (LATE), 

The firmness of soul, honesty of purpose, true to his friends, keen and quick 
in conception of every emergency, and in execution of his many well 
laid plans and victorious political battles startled the political world, 

now immortal. 

atan and his hosts at our back; but we can and must keep the com- 
mandments, do our duly, and we will cross the river dry shod. 

Let me adjure the rebellious of the race to adopl a different course 



94 GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 

and follow the few on their way to the promised land, for unspeakable 

danger lies in the downward path. 

We can see His guiding hand leading the children of Israel from 
the strong hands of Pharaoh; we can see His guiding hand leading our 
forept. rents from the strong hands of bondage, and we can see the work 
of His strong hands to-day among all nations. 

Wh^n our parents and grandparents had suffered enough; when 
their praters had moved Him to compassion and touched His heart 
with the ^oes of the distressed, and when they promised to obey 
and follow Him, He selected Abraham Lincoln, that great and good 
man who stood undaunted and issued the Proclamation of Freedom, to 
deliver them. 

Christ has led this overtasked and broken-hearted race from 
bondage, but Israel-like, some are wandering around in the wilderness 
murmuring and complaining instead of going on and doing their duty 
regardless of consequences, and remembering that His commanding 
voice can be heard in all the reformation of nations. 

We can see his opposition to injustice in the ruins of Babylon, in 
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the plagues of Pharaoh, and 
in the unjust ruler on the prairie. Then we can sit down in our little 
cottages, view the light of history, and see kingdoms giving way, and 
empires falling before Him. 

Then should we swerve from duty? No. But we should fear God 
and keep His commandments. 

If he bids us go forward to greater attainments of integrity, to 
nobler works of love, and to a higher plane of living, it's our duty 
to go. 

Though the way leads through poverty, misery, suffering, oppression 
and deep water; and though liberty and justice may be crushed in such 
a way, until we can scarcely see light enough amid the gloom of perse- 
cution and the thick metaphysical fog of prejudice to see how to 
travel; yet in still it's our duty to go. 

His way may appear strange, but it's safe, for His guiding hand 
has always removed obstacles out of the way for His people, and will 
remove them out of ours if we trust Him. 

The same God that solved the problem for the children of Israel 
will solve ours if we trust Him. 

We know what He wants us to do, for His lessons are so plainly 
taught in the Bible, and manifested in the world around us, that only 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 95 

the wilfully ignorant can fail to understand them. And I believe that 
we will continue to be an unprosperous people until the prevalence of 
a right sentiment permeates the race. 

No prosperity and no grandeur can save a nation that sanctions im- 
morality. We must ever keep our homes pure if we expect to be a 
noble race. 'Tis true that we were turned loose without the govern- 
ment making any provision for our food and shelter, but the Lord opened 
the way, though we were surrounded with enemies, but the Lord calmed 
their passions. 

And I imagine that if it had not been for a providential inter- 
ference, when the defeated soldiers came home from war, their reason- 
ing powers would have been twisted in such a way as to chill v their 
consciences, rob their understandings and incite their passions to turn 
upon the helpless slaves. 

But the Lord brought into their' minds the fact that the Negroes 

had protected their property and families during their absence. Though 

somewhat disappointed, their passions for spilt blood were not stirred up. 

We are poor, 'tis true, but poverty is not as bad as immorality 

and ignorance. 

Other nations often speak of the Negro as being ignorant, treach- 
erous, low, unchaste and untrusty, and these sayings are true to a certain 
extent. However, we have some as pure-hearted men and women in 
the race as ever lived. The world has fixed upon the race a scrutinizing 
eye full of distrust, hence it is thwarted in many instances where it 
should be aided. 

However, it should be pitied, for it does not think the few years 
of freedom sufficient time for it to recover from the effects of a system 
which made it a victim of degrading habits which are imbedded in 
its nature. Nevertheless, the command of God and existing circum- 
stances should spur it to make a bold effort for improvement. And if 
we trust God, do our duty and increase morally, physically and in- 
tellectually we can stand before the world undaunted. For the Gol 
that sits above this unjust and cruel world will not forsake nor 
leave us, but will make even our enemies be at peace with us. 

Our good people have a hard time even among the race, for if they 
tell the disobedient that they are wrong they do great violence to the 
notions and feelings that have been made strong by practice, custom 
and indulgence, therefore the few who are doing their duty and laboring 
in uplift the masses arc often criticised and maligned. 



96 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 



The good have to suffer with the bad, for we are mixed up in such 
a way until it is almost a matter of impossibility for us to separate 
ourselves, as occupations and relationship constantly throw the better 
class in contact with the worse; hence the prejudiced mind can't see 
the few good ones on their way to prosperity, but have a clear sight 
when it comes to errors. 




BISHOP ABRAHAM GRANT, D. D., 

The Renowned Revivalist in the A. M. E. Church, 
a Refuser of Honorary Degrees. 

But I am profoundly glad of this fact, that the good are re- 
warded in the other world, if not in this, and in the great resurrection 
morning, when we come before the pure and holy of heaven, the good 
will not have to suffer with the bad. However, every one will be held 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 97 

accountable for his own sins, must repent for himself, believe for 
himself, and die for himself. 

If you should quiz the downward travelers as to why they have 
choosen that course, I think their answer would be pleasure. But what 
kind of pleasure is it? I would call it paltry pleasure; and the way is 
not only dangerous, but inevitably deleterious, and if they do not change 
their course, punishment will be their reward. 

To the few who are traveling onward and upward, you need not 
become discouraged, for Christ has always had words of approval for 
the fatihful. Though weak and small in number, rely on God for 
strength and power, remembering that he was with the three in the fiery 
furnace, the one in the lion's den, the one faithful family when the face 
of the earth was covered with water, and the many who have trusted 
Him. 

We cannot hope to cope with the Caucasian race in power and 
wealth because they have the vantage ground. However, we can hope 
to cope with it in serving God, because the Holy Spirit visits the 
Negro as often as it does other races. 

A fair-minded person is compelled to look at the race with an eye 
of pity, when he looks at the fatal heritage of slavery, the peculiar 
temptations to which our girls are subjected, the way that some are 
degraded, the unjustness of the law, the whiz of mob violence, and the 
many other barriers to our welfare. 

But in spite of the fact that we were turned loose penniless, ignor- 
ant, and without shelter, there are families who not only have beautiful 
homes, but who are trying to raise up intelligent and industrious chil- 
dren. And in spite of injustice we casually see one surmounting dif- 
ficulties, and surrounding himself with opulence that would do credit 
to one who has always been free and backed up by friends. 

The white man and Negro should not be indifferent to each other, 
but should work together in harmony and peace for the common interests 
of both, and as they are constantly thrown together by occupations they 
should justly adjust differences. 

The Negro does not expect social equality; however, he should he 

treated right regardless of his color, or previous conditions of servitude. 

May all who read these pages inwardly resolve, God helping them 

to avail themselves of the opportunities afforded, to not let them pass 

by unimproved, and to do the Lidding of their only true friend. 

We are not drifting about in this cold world without a friend. 



98 GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 

without a destiny, without a hope, or without help, but we can glory in 
the Friend who is guiding al things. 

Now, may all who are on their way to the promised land, influence 
as many as they can to go with them, for in that place that has been 
prepared for the righteous there will be no oppression of the poor by 
the rich, nor envy of the rich by the poor; no strife or rivalry between 
nations ; no debauchers to rob women of their character ; no lewd women 
to lead men astray; no dishonesty, unchastity, disgrace, murder, malice 
or hatred, but all will be peace, love and happiness. 

Then let us labor, suffer, pray and sacrifice to go to that place of 
eternal joy. 

And to you, who are on your way to destruction, may you look 
at the Babe in the manger, Christ on the cross, the open sepulcher, and 
then look at Him inviting you to come and receive eternal life. When 
you rebel, you are rebelling against your only true Friend, but may you 
repent and believe before it's too late. 

Now, may the race take a decided stand for right, and follow its 
only true Friend — 

Remembering the works of His mighty hand, 
For He led Israel from the bondage land. 
He did the Eed Sea's waters divide 
And guided Israel to the other side. 

He smote the Egyptians' pride 

When in His wrath many died, 

And he buried Pharaoh's army in a watery grave, 

But led Israel through the wave. 

He led them with a cloud by day, 
So that they might know the way. 
He led them with a fire by night, 
Because they couldn't see without light. 

And what do you think? 
He gave them water from a rock to drink, 
And rained down manna from on high 
So that from hunger they would not die. 

But some grew dissatisfied, 
And complained until they died; 



GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 

Others murmured and complained 

And said they wished they had at home remained. 



99 




REV. H. T. JOHNSON, D. D.. Ph. D., 
Now serving his fourth term of four years as Editor of the Christian Re- 
corder, of the A. M. E. Church, the oldest paper in the world published 
by Negroes. Dr. Johnson is a popular prospectus candidate for the 
Bishopric in the A. M. E. Church. 



100 GOD A FRIEND TO THE NEGRO. 

Some never did reach the promised land 
Because they broke God's command; 
And in the wilderness they did toil 
Amidst affliction and turmoil. 

They were brought very low, 
But our Father did them mercies show 
When they grew sorry for their ways, 
And began to give Him praise. 

Nations cannot afford 

To lift themselves up against the Lord. 

But the whole duty of man 

Is to fear God, arH keep His command. 

Behold the works of his mighty hand, 
He led the race from tlte bondage land, 
And did to it mercy show, 
And told it the way to go. 

He leads it with the sun of righteousness by day, 
Because He is the only true way. 
He leads it with the star of hope by night, 
Because it can't see how to travel without a light. 

Now, what do you think? 
He gives it living water to drink, 
And He gives it the bread of life to eat, 
Oh, it's so good and sweet. 

And Christ came down for us, and died, 
But the race is not satisfied. 
And some are in the wilderness wandering, 
Complaining, sinning and murmuring. 

And some will never reach the promised land 
Because they have broken God's command. 
But if we turn like Israel did. 
His face from us will not be hid. 



PARENTS MUST LEAVE A LEGACY. 101 

Now in the wilderness we are distressed, 
Driven, afflicted and oppressed; 
But if we obey God and be true, 
He will come to our rescue. 

He'll protect and not let others slay- 
When His anger is turned away, 
And if to His voice we take heed, 
He will us on to Caanan lead. 

He's willing to protect and defend, 
For he's the Negroe's truest Friend, 
Then let us live pleasing in His sight, 
For He will our battles fight. 

Now let us follow Israel's God 

Onward, onward, with a steady trod; 

Through seas, and the wilderness, if it's His command, 

Until we reach the promised land. 

Let us not murmur and complain, 
Because it is vain 

To rebel against His works and ways; 
But let's go on and give Him praise. 



PARENTS MUST LEAVE A LEGACY. 

What legacy are you preparing to leave 

To your children as a gift? 
Will it be houses, money and land, 

And an inheritance that will lift 
Them, to aspire for things that's high? 

Or can it be possible 
That when you die, 

Your record, the only legacy left, 
Will be one of disgrace and shame 

To those you leave bereft? 

Not only your likeness will be reproduced 
In your children's forms and faces, 



102 INTEMPERANCE. 

But your habits will be reproduced also, 

For they will take your places 
In society, the church and state, 

Or on the streets, dens and saloons, 
To boast in sin 'till they meet your fate. 

The legacy will teach them to look low or high. 
Then be careful as to the kind 

Of inheritance you leave when you die. 

The greatest legacy that can be 

Left by parents 
Is good, pure, honest, intelligent 

And industrious footprints. 
For if ancestors' lives are unclean 

The children will surely inherit 
Habits that will make them low and mean. 

But if ancestors' lives are pure and grand 
They can make their children's blood rich, 

Though they have not houses or land. 

You must leave a legacy, 

Whether you wish to or not, 
To your posterity, 

For something to them you must allot. 
Then select pure emotions to bequeath 

To the next generation. 
Now bestir yourselves and rise from underneath 

The feet of other races. 
But leave an inheritance that will empower 

Them to take higher places. 






INTEMPERANCE. 

Look at the blasted homes and ruined lives, 
Hungry children and weeping wives, 
Caused by whiskey, rum and beer. 
Then, you can see clear 
That, that awful vice, intemperance, 
Is a curse and pestilence. 



INTEMPERANCE. 103 

Look into the drunkard's homes, 

At the scanty tables and rooms, 

And you will see, 

An unhappy family, 

Who likes to quarrel and disagree, 

Because they dwell in sin and poverty. 

Some men drink to such an excess 
They delight in sin and wickedness. 
They not only abuse their children, but beat their wives, 
And crush the ambition out of their livfs. 
They grumble at this, they grumble at that, 
And are always ready for an unpleasant chat. 

The drunkard's wife is afraid of him. 
Because he boasts in sin. 
He very often comes home mad ; 
But when he leaves, she is glad. 
She doesn't enjoy his company, 
Because he's always ready to disagree. 

The children are glad when he is gone, 
Because he's so unpleasant at home. 
And they wonder why their mother selected 
One that should have been rejected. 
However, they should love and honor him, 
For not to do this is a sin. 

The race is suffering from a curse to-day 
Because Ham did not the proper respect pay 
To Noah, his intoxicated father. 
However, Ham's children should not bother 
The old man liquor, but should cover him up, 
So that their children will not be corrupt. 

Every Negro should abhor 

That strong drink they call liquor, 

For every generation is cursed and corrupt 

Because the old man liquor, it will not cover up. 



104 



INTEMPERANCE. 

Oh, cover him up, and walk away. 
Do it now, do not delay. 

Oh cover up this awful sin 
Before your children look upon him. 
Then turn your face and walk away, 
Don't look upon him; do not delay; 
For thousands are cursing their children 
Because they laugh and look upon him. 




REV. M. W. AUSTIN, 

Secretary of the Indian Mission A. M. 
E. Conference. 

Enough money is spent for alcohol 

To educate the children all. 

Now, control your appetite, 

And in intemperance do not delight. 

Cover up the old man liquor, I pray. 

Then turn your face, and walk away. 



INTEMPERANCE. 105 

Now, if you don't hear me you will 
Continue to meet with evil, 
And if this disgrace is not covered up, 
The race will continue to be corrupt. 
But if you'll turn and reform your lives, 
There'll not be so many heart-broken wives. 

Old man alcohol and disgrace 

Has brought much evil to the race, 

And it seems that the race doesn't see 

The cause of so much misery. 

Now, may each of you leave liquor alone, 

And put your money in a home. ^ 

Stay sober and help to solve 

That vexed problem that involves 

So many millions of lives, 

Including your children and wives. 

Now help the race that much, won't you? 

And be industrious, honest and true. 

Then you will not walk around 

With ragged clothes, and shoes run down; 

But you can handle money, stand erect, 

And not only this, you can demand respect. 

Then other nations will agree 

That you're a man of integrity. 

Stop working all the year, 

And spending your money for whiskey and beer, 

But spend your money for things that you need. 

Buy your children books, clothes, and feed, 

Oh do send them to school ! 

Then remember the golden rule. 

And do unto your neighbor as you'd have him do to you, 
And to the God of all people be true 
When you will have done this 
You can live in happiness and Idiss 



106 INTEMPERANCE. 

In any of the States, 

For all will be pleased with your fate. 

Look at the number that have lost their lives 

By going into saloons and dives. 

However, it's not only men 

That enter these reservoirs of sin, 

But I am very sorry to say 

That in them women are going astray. 

Oh what a pity to see, 

Women in dens of immorality 

When they should be at home or some other good place 

Trying to help save the race 

By doing their duty, acting aright, 

And living pleasing in God's sight. 

It is my wish to impress 

The race to take more interest 

In things that are noble and grand 

In homes, money and land, 

And to look upon low things with disgust, 

And not after them to lust. 

Shun things that will keep the race down, 

Labor for fame and renown 

By keeping in the path to success 

And shunning the path of wickedness; 

By education, industry, virtue and wealth, 

And shunning all things that are gained by stealth; 

By treating all nations right, 

And trusting in God for might. 

Now, I hope that all 

Will shun old man alcohol. 

If you do as I say, all will agree 

That you're on your way to prosperity. 

You can look upon the Heavenly Father and live, 
For he will to you blessings give. 



INTEMPERANCE. 



107 



But do not look upon old man Disgrace; 

If you do, he'll curse the race. 

But the more you look at Christ, the whiter you'll be, 

And He'll bless you in eternity. 

Arid if you do what's right, 

Though your face be black, your heart'll be white. 

You can look upon Christ on Calvary, 

Who died for you and me. 

Now, cover up old man Alcohol's face, 

And do not behold him in disgrace. 




PROF. H. D. WINN, 
Principal of county School, "Sauny 

Stand," Teacher and a Tireless 
Worker in the Church, Charitable 
Societies, Chappell Hill, Texas. 



108 



A WELL WITHOUT A CURBING. 



A WELL WITHOUT A CURBING. 

Many years ago, one day 
Some little girls were out at play, 
And they were shouting around a well, 
And suddenly one of them in it fell. 






The mother was sick and alone, 
And the father was away from home. 
The children screamed and said, 
"G. has fallen in the Well." 

The mother jumped out of the bed, 
For she thought her child was dead. 
However she let down a rope 
Because she had a mother's hope. 




THE WELL OF SIN. 






By this time people were there 

From everywhere 

In the neighborhood. 

Some because of excitement, and some to do good. 



The mother thought they had acted unwise, when 
They could have had their well curbed in. 
She said if they had not neglected this well, 
In it their child would not have fell. 






A WELL WITHOUT A CURBING. 109 

Some one pushed the mother away 
And I heard another one say, 
"Go in the house. Now, G., hold on tight 
And I'll pull you out right." 

Though bruised, they got her out. 

Oh, how the mother did shout 

To see her child safe again, 

And said, "That well must be curbed in." 

Today there's a well in your yard 

From which your children are not debared 

By a curbing from falling in. 

] mean that awful well of sin. 

Some parents do not tell 
Their children the danger of this well, 
But permit them to play around 
Until they fall in and are drowned. 

Or else they go around maimed for life 
By falling in the well of vice. 
If they don't fall in a well at home 
You often permit them to roam 

To another place 

And fall in the well of disgrace. 

0, how sad to see 

So many children falling in the well of misery! 

If you don't go to the expense to have your well curbed 
You may expect to be disturbed; 

And the time on training them, that should have been spent 
Must be used in weeping and lament. 

Let not your children go astray 

By allowing them to play 

In the alleys and streets, with friend or stranger, 

If you do, they'll surely meet with danger. 



110 



A WELL WITHOUT A CURBING. 



If you allow them to play around the well of a saloon 

They will soon 

Get thirsty and want to drink, 

And fall in the well before you think. 

Do not let your girl make a bosom friend 

Of another girl, when 

The well in her mother's yard is not curbed up, 

For very likely she will your daughter's morals corrupt. 




THE WELL OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

Every well with a curb should be restrained. 
For it matters not how well a child's trained, 
It's liable to make a misstep and fall 
Into the well that's exposed to all. 



We can see open wells in every city 
Of vice and immorality, 
And the youths are entering them 
To participate in sin. 



A WELL WITHOUT A CURBING. Ill 

If you let your children in the well of vice fall, 
It will be too late to bawl; 

And when you see the sheriff carrying them to jail, 
It will be too late to wail. 

And don't let them in the pond of vice go swimming. 
If you do, you'll encourage their taste for sinning, 
And will be held accountable on judgment day 
For allowing your children to go astray. 

But if they will not obey your voice, 

And if the downward way they make their choice, 

The Lord will shorten their days. 

But you go on and give God praise. 

Don't look back like Lot's wife did, 
Because her children in the flames were hid ; 
But obey God's voice and travel on 
And he will find for vou a home. 

Now, do not wait too late 
And let them fall in the well of ill-fate. 
However, 'tis your duty to tell 
Them to always, elude an open well. 

For you will be dolorous indeed, 
If to my edict you take no heed, 
After your children have fallen in 
The wells of vice, crime and sin. 

You can save many tears, and money, too, 
If this advice you will pursue. 
Oh put up high eurbings around 
The well before so many children drown. 




112 THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 

THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 
Beach the Pinnacle or Die in the Ascendency. 
There is no way in which the life of a Negro girl, who is trying 
to live a broad, helpful and powerful life, can be understood so readily 
as by describing that of one of them. 

And this code of morals that I have drawn 
constitutes a system of the highest conceivable 
elevation that can be reached by her. The fol- 
lowing named morals are the seven rounds in 
their order that constitute the ladder pictured : 

First — A high aim. 

Second — A fixed will. 

Third — A firm hope. 

Fourth — A strong resolution. 

Fifth— Charity. 

Sixth — Culture. 

Seventh — Amelioration, or the pinnacle. 

In order to reach the pinnacle, a girl must 
fit and prepare herself for life, by knowing and 
performing its duties. And after she has culti- 
vated her mental, moral and physical powers, 
she can exalt herself to the noblest womanhood. 

Now, I shall endeavor to picture a girl, who 
is trying to live a broad, helpful and powerful 
life, by possessing all of the morals in the above 
code. The girl who is trying to reach the pin- 
nacle, by climbing the ladder of fame, by the 
strand of faith, is placed in a peculiar sphere; 
for the upward way involves struggles from the 
beginning to the end. 

However, she can reach the first round with- 
out coming in contact with many obstacles, but 
as soon as some of the wicked class discover 
what she is trying to do, they become uneasy and 
envious. Thus, being actuated by their own 
wicked impulses, they begin to devise plans to 
prevent her from going any farther. 

They go to her as a friend and try to show 
her the mistake she is making; they tell her 
that they started, but discovering nothing at the 
end, they stopped; they try to deceive her by saying: "Those at the 




THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 



113 




top are not any better than we are.'' They point out to her different 
girls that started and fell; they tell her the 
higher one goes the more injurious a fall proves 
to be, and as she can never reach the top, it 
would be better for her to stay down amid the 
pleasures of life. 

However persuasive their reasoning may ap- 
pear, and however she may for a time fancy her- 
self convinced by them, she has in her breast a 
certain instinct which never fails to tell her 
right from wrong. But several who have reach- 
ed the pinnacle, for fear that her will powers will 
weaken under persuasion, hold out their banners 
with these words inscribed thereon, "Higher and 
higher, and the end will crown the work." She 
listens to those below with fear; she reads the 
words above with trembling; she looks at the 
downward way with dread. 

Look ! A moment she stands irresolute, fight- 
ing her own cowardly impulses; now she makes 
a decision, and reaches the round of a fixed will. 

In the meantime, those below haven't lost 
hope, but are discussing plans, and formulating 
methods to impede her progress. They oil their 
tongues, and talk like angels. They argue that 
it's unwise to struggle for things unseen, when 
one can have a good time and enjoy the comforts 
of life. 

They shrill out sweet words of information. 
by telling her that the upward way is even rugged 
and thorny. 

It is hardly necessary to remind the reader 
of the schemes and activity of people, when thej 
envy you. 

V. 

Those who have reached the pinnacle becom* 
vexed; and so with their eyes clinging to her, 
some of them grow maddened between hope and 







114 THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 

fear, and continue to notice her with anxiety, for fear that she will 
will lose hope, relax because of weakness and fall below. 

They tell her that it's true, that the upward way involves strug- 
gles to the end ; and that hundreds have started and fell ; but if she'll 
only continue, the higher she goes, the stronger she'll get. 

They also tell her of the many pleasures in the high circle, the many 
positions she can fill, and the advantages of obtaining good wages. 

The argument of both sides has perplexed her, hence bitterness 
and confusion center about her mind at once; many thoughts tell her 
how hard it is to climb by the slender strand of faith; on the other 
hand, many thoughts tell her how grand it is to have an honest soul 
and an unguilty conscience. 

Look at the picture! She has been on this round for some time, 
desiring to go forward, but not making many efforts. 

She hasn't decided yet, but stands there twisting one hand in the 

other; she looks first up, then down, and then compares the two directions. 

However, whatever way she decides to go, the outcome will be 

awaited with interest from both directions. While she is making a 

decision, I will invite your attention to those above and below. 

Notice the pictures of the few who have succeeded in reaching 
the pinnacle. 

All of them are successful in their business; they are leading help- 
ful lives; they are workers for Christ; they are receiving high salaries 
for their work, and they are throwing the weight of their influence in 
favor of a force that will draw people upward. 

Now I will invite your attention to the pictures of those in the 
abyss below. Look at the mothers and fathers! Look at the young 
girls, that have started and have fallen ! Look at the young men who are 
idling away their time, and living lives of crime and debauchery! 
Suppose you interrogate that crowd: "Girls, why are you there?" 
"We were too weak to climb; we yielded to temptations, and the 
older ones that you see around us prevented us from rising, by per- 
suasion, and example." 

"Boys, why are you there?" 

"Because we didn"t have many incentives to spur us to grasp for 
high things; because we are imitating our fathers, and because we 
like this side best." 

"Parents, why are you there?" 

"Inherited tendencies, and circumstances have kept up here." 



THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 115 

"Grandparents, why are you there, and why did you hand down to 
those parents tendencies to prevent their progress?" 

"Reason as we may, it is impossible not to notice in our nature, 
and in the fate of your parents, much that we know not how to inter- 
pret; slavery destroyed some of the instincts that we could have handed 
down; but many of the traits and indulgencies were not given them by 
us; however, we are down because we were born here, and circumstances 
have prevented us from rising; that is all that I can tell you, for some 
of the causes that have placed us here would be fearful, even to whis- 
per, as they were done under compulsion, hence we do not think that 
we should be reproached for them." 

During the time you were asking questions, the girl on the round 
of a fixed will, made a decision, and reached the round of a Firm Hope. 
The reader will notice carefully how the rounds of this ladder are 
arranged. 

The first is called a High Aim, because she had to have an end in 
view, or she never would have started. 

The second is called a fixed will, hence on this round she had % 
strong desire to go forward. 

The third is called a Firm Hope, which is the product of ex- 
pectation and desire. You see, when she reached this round she had 
an expectation of reaching the pinnacle. 

As she goes higher, she comes in contact with many obstacles, but 
knowing that Christ is an actual and live power, she trusts him and 
continues to climb, by the strand of Faith. 

The reader well knows that there are not many girls strong enough 
to climb, when there are so many things to weaken their will power. 

However, one must be imbued with the love of God, to stand the 
turmoils and temptations of this life and come out successful. Now 
and then, you see a girl in our race, like the one I have pictured, who is 
not easily won by persuasive words. Look at her ! What an eloquent story 
such a picture as this conveys! Behold that modest face; no matter 
for its color, and no matter for the length of her hair. It is true, she's 
not pretty, but the soul is there, illuminating every feature. Tt tells 
of honesty, sincerity and worth, for she's living a life of meekness and 
virtue. 

Though her body is not enveloped in a fair skin, it matters not, for 
the heart is there; therefore she should be loved, honored and encour- 
aged. God allows those below to try her for the development of her 



116 



THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 




faith. But, seeing that her will is so strong, they have become uneasy ; 
yet they haven't lost hope, for they have suceeded in pulling many 
down that were on a higher elevation than this. 

I see relatives in the crowd scheming to un- 
dermine her foundation. Can it be possible that 
relatives would try to hinder her progress ? Yes, 
it is true. 

Her relatives try to restrain her will, because 
they are jealous and envious. Though they have 
some of the same blood coursing through their 
veins, they have no similarity of ways, for their 
hearts and minds are altogether different. 

However, the ties of relationship force her 
to be kind to them, because she has learned to 
step higher, by taking every disagreeable thing, 
every sorrow, and every disappointment, as a 
hard lesson which she must master. 

It is impossible for them to comprehend the 
different virtues that have ennobled her nature. 
For, as her eyes glance up and behold the sun- 
gilt pinnacle she is trying to reach, the round 
of hope becomes more firm. 

The rounds are too far apart to ascend as if 
on another ladder; therefore she is compelled 
to climb by the strand of Faith, as she can not 
reach the pinnacle in any other way. 

It would be very easy for her to slip down 
the strand and lose her foothold, but it is im- 
possible for her to slip up it, for no one can 
make progress upward without meeting and over- 
coming obstacles. 

Look at the pictures as she holds to the 
strand of Faith, endeavoring to reach the round 
of a strong resolution. As she looks up, these 
words begin surging in her breast: 

"Choose thou my path, Lord; 
Move back dark clouds from me. 
But keep me in this path, 
That I may follow thee." 
As she hangs there, suspended between twoL 




THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 



117 




£ 

5 



rounds, the clouds gather thick and fast, and at times she can scarcely 
discern the true way. But she knows that if Christ 
will supply strength and keep her in the true 
path, that she will finally reach the pinnacle. 

As she sings the above verse, there is a great " 
weight in her breast; for she is meeting with 
unexpected disappointments. 

Her brother, who has been wallowing in the 
slums, fails to respect her. He wants her to asso- 
ciate with his class. 

He is going with a woman of questionable 
character; in fact, he has decided to make her 
a member of his family, by the marriage bonds 
of ceremony. Hence, he wanted his sister to 
associate with his intended wife. But when it 
became evident that she would not, unpleasant 
words poured forth from him. 

This was enough to untie her heart strings 
and weaken her resolution, for this young man 
should have been a prop for her; should have 
protected her from the snares and pitfalls, and 
should have done all in his power to encourage 
her chastity. 

Seeing that he is lacking in the proper re- 
spect, her mixed concusion is indescribable; but, 
instead of hurling back angry words, she tightens 
her lips and walks away. However, her heart 
has never quailed as it does now. 0, the tears! 
the tears! how they trickle down her cheeks. 

When relatives gnash their teeth, it is then 
hardest for a girl to do her duty. 

But a little hope is fluttering at her heart, 
and her resolution grows stronger as she sings 
this verse: 

"Guide thou my feet, Lord; 
Don't let them go astray; 
And when my soul's overwhelmed in grief, 
Be thou my friend, I pray." 




118 



THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 




She knows that Christ will move back the dark clouds, and light up 
her pathway. Hence the many unpleasant words 
of her brother are only stepping-stones to success. 

However, her struggles would have disheart- 
ened many a girl of lesser spirit and courage. 
Many boys have led their sisters to destruction, 
by having them associate with people whom they 
knew were impure. All of those who have taken a 
decided stand against right are throwing the 
weight of their influence in favor of a power to 
wards the road that leads to the pinnacle; hence 
she is willing to perservere, because her whole 
soul goes up to God in agony of earnestness 
for a higher, deeper and broader life; hence she 
is not easily shaken in her purpose. To make 
her strong, God assigns her to the closet for 
prayer, to the Sabbath school for skill in work- 
ing for Him, and to the Church services for an 
united intercession with Him. 

This girl is above the average girl; she 
doesn't make herself conspicuous by always gig- 
gling and wearing gaudy apparel; but she is 
neat, gentle, firm, calm and reserved. 

Nevertheless, those who are traveling the 
broad road say, "She's biggity and stuck-up." 

Still, her able soul enable her to bear all of 
these reproaches and insults. Nevertheless her 
spirit is wounded. She has arrived at the age 
where it's hardest for her to keep the foothold 
already gained. 

As there is more matter resting on her brain, 
the more intolerable becomes the burden, for the 
climax of her woes comes when the gossips and 
critics try to rob her of her character. 

The old long-tongued woman who couldn't 
carry out her plans pierces this innocent girl's 
heart with the arrows of slander, so at times 
it seems that the very walls of the auricles and 









/ \ 


5 TRCNG~WfRESOL UTIQN 






i 

















THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 



119 



ventricles will give way and pass with the filtering blood into the aorta 
Look at the old woman's tongue ! She has poured the oil of sin on 
it from the vial of an evil heart; that's why it looks so slimy. It is 
so long and sneaky she can slip it around the guilty and pierce the in- 
nocent. There is a living picture like this in every city or village, who 
is always ready to scandalize some one better than herself. They act 
as telephone wires, and you can transmit news free of charge. The 
chief differencee between them and other telephone wires are these: 
They act as their own operators, and seldom carry straight news. 

Their principal characteristic is industry; they don't like to be 
idle. 

To-day there are thousands of girls in the slums, and thousands of 




MADAME ALL-EAR GADABOUT, 

broken-hearted mothers on the account of these wires being in oper- 
ation. 

One reason some women delight in seeing girls fall is because they 
have fallen themselves, or have fallen daughters. However, if they had 
the right conception of tilings, they would encourage our Lri rls to lives 
of chastity, even if they are impure. 

Whilst the girl pictured is on the round of a resolution, she has 
more to contend with than at any other time, and more girls have 
fallen from this round than from any other on the ladder of Fame. 

Her mincl begins to waver, and these waverings refuse to he alto- 
gether ousted from her brain, especially when she sees some of those 



120 THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 

below, trying to reach the top of the ladder by other methods; and 
some of those at the top endeavoring to assist them. And sometimes, 
when she went out in society and saw some of them taking an active 
part, she came near weakening under her resolve. 

But as her conscience continued to say, "Do right, because it is 
have weaved their matchless fabrics into noble. 
grand and courageous efforts, to become a cul- 
tured, virtuous and refined woman. 

So now she has succeeded in casting the dii- 
ferent waverings resolutely behind her. 

Those who endeavored to undermine tins 
girl's foundation only wanted the opportunity of 
seeing the women of our race on a level, and sa> - 
ing "You are not any better than I." Girls, be- 
ware! Don't give them the opportunity of say- 
ing this to you. Be strong and sincere, like the 
girl I've pictured. 

Her character continues to improve as she 

ascends. 

You who have reached this round and are in 
a wavering state of mind, remember that this girl 
met with many obstacles; many were against her; 
and it was very hard for her to climb to the grand 
and sublime height where she now stands; but 
she overcame obstacles, subdued her enemies, and 
succeeded in reaching this round, by persevering. 
But before reaching this round, ofttimes she 
would be encouraged; then again, when her. soul 

was vexed, she would fold her arms and ask her- 
self these questions: "Is there any reward here 

for the pure; does it raise the standard of woman- 
hood for only a few to be good?" 

•However, when she was in a state of despair, 

Christ would step in and bring consolation; then 

she would say to herself: "Why art thou cast 

down, my soul? And why are thou disquiet ed 

within me? Hope thou in God. for I shall yet 

praise Him, for the light of his countenance." 
Many are trying to prevent her from going 

higher in the enduring forms of life, because they 

haven't the ambition to rise out of the mud- 

swamp of their own coarse habits. 

A thought has entered her mind that 






n r 


\ r 


CMR-M, 


1 


fTfr 























THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 



121 



better to aim too high than too low, and in her 
resolution to reach the pinnacle. Now she has 
reached the round of Charity. The eighth verse 
of First Corinthians tells us that, "Charitj 
suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not: 
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; re- 
joiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
truth. She does not fold her arms, but she is 
willing to do whatsoever her hands find to do, 
for the upbuilding of morality and Christianity. 
She is an active worker in Sunday-school, and 
her position as a teacher is filled with honor and 
success, for she has genius for imparting knowl- 
edge. 

And the children that she has laid her hand 
upon love her; for she has taken the lives of her 
class to her heart; hence her work is a success. 

"Charity suffereth long." 

u it times whilst on this round her spirit has 
been stilled by different opposers; and ofttimes 
have those she so earnestly gave her attention 
to failed to show the proper respect. Neverthe- 
less she was patient. 

If any girl has embarked her life in pursuit 
of the pinnacle, let her go on like this girl, with- 
out fearing the event, but leaving the conse- 
quences to God. For there is no joy greater 
than that of a girl who fights against the evils 
of the world, triumphs over conflicts, and gains 
the victory for herself. This girl has been de- 
prived of many advantages, and has had to strug- 
gle to reach the foothold where you now see her. 

But every trial patiently borne adds strength 
to her humble soul, and the genial rays of ameli- 
oration have added beauty to her character, for 
it continues to improve, enlarge and enrich in 
her upward progress. 

As she reached the round of Culture, which 
is the sixth round, a strange feeling seized her brain. 



heart throbs a strong 




For she Looked 



\\\ '// 




THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 

down the ladder and viewed the rounds of a High Aim, a Fixed Will, 
a Firm Hope, a Strong Resolution, Charity; 
then looking at her foothold, and thought of all 
the scheming and effort of what she had so 
ardently prayed for. After this she looks up 
and seeing it in reach, she goes down on her 
knees Now she is thanking God for leading 
her in such an eventful life; for giving her 
strength to climb; for enabling her to stand the 
trials; for giving her patience, and for permit- 
ting her to reach the grand and sublime height 
of Culture. 

Doesn't she look happy? One of the pret- 
tiest ideals ever painted by the brush of an 
artist is that of a women on her knees, praising 

God. 

This girl, born to such an enviable destiny, 
has made a 'triumphant progress, by slow and 
steady steps. While attending school she was 
so studious and neat in her work that even her 
classmates envied her. 

By her widowed mother not having the means 
to pay all of her tuition, she was compelled to 
work after school hours. However, the teachers 
were very kind to her, and helped her in many 
instances. In fact, her ways were winning and 
made her a favorite with them. She remained 
in school until she finished the collegiate course, 
and made for herself a name. 

Thus, having the necessary weapons, she is 

now able to go out into the busy, bustling world 

and fight the battles of life successfully. For 

her will is ready to propose its duties; her hands 

are ready to perform them, and her heart is 

ready to enjoy them. 

Now she is an eminent scholar; she can do 

different kinds of fancy work, and is a skilled 

seamstress. Hence, she is an illustrious example 

of what a girl may accomplish by her own efforts 




THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 123 

She has reached the pinnacle of fame, 

But stood on every round. 
She wanted to reach it in Christ's name 

When she started from the ground. 
Now high upon the pinnacle she stands, 

Where swirls the mighty breeze. 
Christ is holding her in his hands; 
She will not sink into the seas. 
She reached the pinnacle of fame by proving herself worthy. 
Girls, be like the girl pictured; triumph over difficulties by perse- 
vering. I know that the majority have said that ''There are not any 
virtuous Negro women," so much until you think that you will not get 
any credit for being pure. But remember that "Truth crushed to earth 
will rise again." 

Of course, 'tis true that many of our women are unchaste. How- 
ever, there are a few of them as pure as the girl I've pictured ; and there 
are many who have struggled for an education, and are now cultured 
and refined women. 

The world's history is full of the triumphs of those who have strug- 
gled from beginning to end to gain the victory, and reach the round of 
amelioration. I am perfectly satisfied that the reader will thoroughly 
understand this chapter, from self-experience. Every person has been 
envied, to some extent. 

And whenever you make an effort to go up, the gravity of nature, 
or somebody, has a tendency to pull you back. Hence, through the 
imaginary powers you can — 

Follow the girl with a high aim 
Until she reaches the pinnacle of fame. 
Let us stop a moment while she is on the seventh round, and com- 
pare her with other girls. 

From whatever viewpoint those who do not live righteous lives may 
regard girls in general, and from whatever standpoint the reader may 
regard them, there can be nothing but admiration and praise for the 
girl who succeeds in reaching the pinnacle of Fame. 

A few such girls — a very few — in each county could erase the stig- 
ma that's now attached to the name of Negro womanhood, and write 
probity and intelligence instead. Water can not ri?e higher than its 
level, nor can a race rise higher than its women. 

What is a young lady without character? She reminds me of a 
ball. Whenever she falls below the standard that has been erected for 



124 THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 

her, she is thrown out in the cold world, and baffled about like a ball. 
Some hit her with the bat of persuasion, just to see how far she will 
go. Some will catch her with the hand of deceit, in order to carry a 
point. Others will catch her and put her in society, because they have 
been knocked about the same way. 

Finally, she marries, but the better part of her life has been speni 
in dissipation, hence she sits down in the corner to lament over the past 
and think over the future. 

Girls, remember that whenever you lose your character, you have 
lost the principal element wherein your power lies. 

Look at the ruined homes, crushed hearts, and unhappy lives, sim- 
ply because you failed to stay on the ladder. 

I will acknowledge that the tide is against you, and it's very hard 
for a Negro girl to rise in the world. And at times you must go with 
unworthy young men, if you go with any at all. But if the better 
class of young men fail to seek your company, rather than go with 
those who are wallowing in the slums, stay at home, or go with your 
parents. 

Be pure and respectable, then you can commanad respect. Experi- 
ence and observation teach us that, even under favorable conditions, 
the tendency is downward. But the upward march is weary, acr) the 
ramparts steep. However, be strong, like the girl pictured. How 
did she reach the pinnacle? Certainly not without an effort. In 
spite of the fact that duty is not always an easy course, her energetic 
perseverance became habitual, hence the struggle to climb was not so 
laborious, after she passed the round of a resolution. This girl had a 
high aim in view; hence she struggled, prayed and pressed forward, 
until she exalted herself at an altitude seven degrees above the plane, 
from where she started. 

As you read these pages, remember that the same courage, ability 
and persistency that lifted this girl from obscurity, can lift others. 

The union of different virtues that composed this code of morals 
reached their zenith in her character and enabled her to reach the pin- 
nacle. 

It matters not what your occupations are, you can possess these 
virtues. But if you are not willing to rise to the pinnacle, go part of 
the way and keep the foothold gained. Though you be a servant girl, 
don't stop until you reach the round of Charity. Then you can possess 
some of the most valuable of these virtues. 



THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 125 

Young girls of every nation, 

Matters not what be your station, 

If a good name you would win, 

Do not participate in sin; 

But ever struggle to the right 

And serve the Lord with all your might. 

If you would be beautiful, 

You should first learn to be dutiful. 

Be industrious and contented in mind, 

For in these true happiness you will find. 

Your home may be grand; it may be humble; 

But be very careful; if not, you'll stumble 

Over something in your pathway, 

If you don't read the Bible and learn to pray. 

Listen, girls, at what I say. 

If you do not take life for play ; 

Be industrious, virtuous, honest, straight, 

Truthful and good; don't wait too late, 

And you'll be a gem of purest ray, 

If you'll only listen to what I say. 

Attend Church and Sabbath-school, 

And try to keep the Golden Bule. 

House-work is very useful, too, 

For you don't know what you'll have to do. 

Learn to be a nice housekeeper, 

And in common sense do not be weaker 

Than other girls, who look ahead 

Towards the future, when they change homstead, 

To make good mothers, to make good wives, 

And be of some use all their lives. 

Live a life that's pure and sweet; 

Keep yourselves clean and neat. 

Choose the company with whom to mingle, 

For remember that you are single, 

Young, and of you much is expected; 

That is, if you want to be protected 



126 THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 

From the cold winds, pitfalls, jars and snares 
That burden and fill your life with cares. 
But you can be happy and make life a pleasure, 
If in your hearts this advice you treasure. 

If you wish uplift and betterment, 

You must make your moral sentiment 

High; then it will help create 

An instrumentality for being great. 

Do not let the higher self die, 

But nourish it, until it rises high; 

Until it ascends to the highest plane 

That can by you be obtained. 

Don't be satisfied with a low station, 

But try to reach the round of culmination. 

The highest attainable point of altitude or elevation 
Is called culmination. 
But in order to reach it, you must 
Step on the round of a high aim first, 
And trust in the Lord as you ascend 
From round to round, until you reach the end. 
But it requires patience and time 
For you to climb 
From a low elevation 
To the round of culmination. 
I 

You must first have an aim in view ; 

Then a strong wish to reach it, too ; 

Then you must hope that you will successful be; 

Then resolve to go upward. Don't you see 

That you must be charitable, too, and refined, 

And then when these six virtues are combined, 

You can on the round of culmination stand, 

Intelligent, virtuous, honest and grand ; 

Now, do not think this task too hard, 

For you can be successful, if you trust in the Lord. 

Listen, girls ! and try to be good, 
By raising the standard of womanhood 



I 



THE PINNACLE OF FAME. 



127 



You can raise the standard of manhood too, 

For it will rise to follow you. 

Let this code of morals be your guide 

And the rays of virtue be your pride; 

Then catch hold of faith with all your might, 

For it's the evidence of things out of sight. 

Then place your feet on a high aim. 

And don't stop until you reach the pinnacle of Fame. 




DR. B. R. BLUITT, 

Physician and Surgeon. 

The Firsl Colored Physician o Entei and Practice in 

Dallas, a Financier. Fraternalisl Has Lei the 

Contracl for the Erection of a $10,000 Private 

Sanitarium, t > lie Finished March L5, 1905. 



128 THE POI/TICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 

THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO TO THE 

UNITED STATES. 

He who has carefully watched the political changes and con- 
ditions of the race can give a better description than this; however 
I timidly present my views in a simple way. 

For many years before the Civil War the heart of the government, 
or mother of the country, had palpitated with alarm on account of the 
antagonism between her Northern and Southern children, there was 
a difference of opinion, but the question which most widely divided the 
Northern and Southern brothers was slavery. 

The poor old mother had a presentiment that something terrible 
was going to happen, so she called her children around her, and told 
them that she was sorely grieved over their actions. She tried to reason 
with them by telling them of the danger with which they were threaten- 
ed under the existing circumstances and disturbances. She told them 
that their conflicting opinions would result in bloodshed if continued. 

The Northern son presented strong reasons as to why he agitated 
freedom, and the Southern brother presented reasons for agitating 
slavery, and said that slavery was a constitutional right. 

The poor old heart-broken mother continued to plead, but to no 
avail. So in January this Southern son left home, and in February 
he selected another mother and father. But the father of our National 
Government stepped out with executive power and called his refractory 
son home; but this son refused to obey, thinking that neither father 
nor mother had a right to force him into submission. The father told 
him that it was not his intention to free the slaves, and also told him 
that he could not lawfully leave home. He knew that his boys were 
threatening to take the very pillows from under their mother's head at 
the very time when she should be allowed to repose in peace. He knew 
that he and the government were bound together by the ligatures of 
these children's confidence and affections, and the destruction of these 
cords would result in untold agony. But the Southern son considered 
this a challenge. So in April, 1861, these two brothers stepped out on 
the battlefield and engaged in a fratricidal strife. 

At the end of this strife the National debt was over $2,740,000,000.. 
and over one million men received wounds or wer6 killed. 

Imagine the anxieties of the mother's heart. As she looked at 
the soil stained with the blood of her children she wept bitterly. 

But was this all ? No. There was confusion here, there and every- 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 



129 




hon. w. m. Mcdonald, 

Orator and Invincible Politician, Whose Patriotism of Race and Country Will 
Be Long Remembered in Texas and Elsewhere. 



130 THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 

where. Though the war was over she had other grave responsibilities 
upon her; hence the perplexities of her mind had caused a dark shadow 
to settle upon her brow. 

And on a dark day before the battlefield was cleared of smoke, while 
the winds were whistling mournfully, she gave birth to another Nation. 
This poor little infant was not born in a quiet hour when all was 
peace, but at an hour when the mother was grieved over the fratricidal 
strife. When the brothers looked upon this new born infant their 
prophecies for its future widely differed. The Northern brother had 
sympathy for it, and felt that all concerned would be better blessed by 
giving it justice. 

On the other hand, the Southern brother thought that its suffrage 
would only bring on mistakes that would militate against the prosperity 
of the country. 

You see the condition of the National Government, or mother; 
you can imagine about how far the Northern brother was willing to go 
to aid it ; and you can see the threatening attitude in which the Southern 
brother stood toward it. 

Then you can imagine the peril of its existence. This unfortunate 
child was totally unlike his brothers in appearance and habits. Hence 
it was nature for them to feel superior. 

But the poor little thing could not make himself over, neither 
could he reconstruct his nature in order to be a welcome member of 
the family. The mother's responsibilities were great; she didn't take 
time to give it the nourishment or training to make it strong; nor 
did she take time to rock it in the cradle of consolation to quiet it. 

While he was lying on the pallet of despondency the news came to 
him that he had been pronounced qualified as a citizen. He could hardly 
understand the meaning of this, for the little thing could not stand 
alone; however, it made an effort to get up. 

"God's way is past finding out," hence it may be presumed that he 
intended for this babe to stand up and take on the responsibilities of 
a man. But I really believe that God was as much displeased when 
suffrage was granted to the Negro as he was when Israel asked for a 
king. He saw the misconduct of Samuel's sons, and he saw the 
misconduct of the National Government's sons. But it pleased him to 
withhold some of the political movements that the people wanted to go 
into effect. We all know that it displeased Him when Israel asked for 
a king; however He granted their wish and let them learn by the mis- 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 



131 



takes of their own folly. And I think that it was the same way in 
this last case, and the mistakes are simply working out their own re- 
sults. After He lead those slaves out of Egypt and these slaves out of 
bondage, I think that He had another course for them to pursue. God 
has a time for everything, therefore sometimes we do the right thing 




f'\ 



HON. D. ROWEN, CAPITALIST, DALLAS. TEXAS. 

Prominent Business Man, Merchant. Real Estate 
Owner and Promoter of Business Enterprises. 

at the wrong time. The Negro was commanded to get up; he obeyed; 
but as he was required to sustain the weight of bis body too early, he 
became bow-legged; and in the pursuit of political office and gain he 
stumbled and fell many times. 

One politician said, "Come to me and I will give you this dollar;" 
another said. "Come to me and I will give you a bottle of whiskey;" 
fej^k another said, "Come to me and I will give you an office," and another 



132 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 



I 



said, ".Come this way and I will make times better for you." 
: Rut in venturing after some of these thing he turned the sympathy 






DR. F. A. BRYAN, 
Physician and Surgeon, Dallas. Texas. 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 



133 



of some of his friends into feelings of distrust. There has been a 
time when there was a movement in favor of Negro politicians, but 
now political caucuses has caused the country to dislike his appearance; 
the press to denounce him, and a popular movement against him. Before 




REV. DAVID ABNER, JR., D. D. 
President of Guadalupe Baptist College, Seguin, Texas. 

I married I had never given politics much thought, however I had read 
of the disorder of some of the men who had loitered around the polls. 

A few months before Mr. Hall and I married he had labored very 
hard for the removal of the county seat from Austin to Tunica, and 
after we married he was a little more interested in politics than I 



134 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 



cared for him to be under the circumstances. I told him that he should 
not run any risks in helping one get a piece of pie just to see him eat 
it. I also told him that it was not safe for Negroes to deal too much 
in politics, for too many dangers threatened their homes, and the hon- 
ors and responsibilities of political offices usually added anxieties and 
misery, instead of promoting happiness. Well, he finally agreed with 
me. • 

Shortly after this conversation one of the leading colored men of 
the county was apopinted postmaster at Tunica, but this appointment 






MRS.* M. E. JENKINS, 

A faithful wife and a loving mother, 
having lived in each pastoral charge 
with her husband for twenty-four 
years in the itinerant service of R. 
S. Jenkins in the A. M. E. Church. 

threw the town into a fevor of excitement; so much so that he did not 
serve, and moved to another place. I was over at Austin at this time, 
am! Mr. and Mrs. Walker and myself had a conversation concerning it. 
Mr. Walker said, "Well, we Negroes used to have a showing in this 
town, but we haven't any now. 1 remember when nearly halt' of the 

offices lure were filled by Negroes, but since they assassinated Mr. 

We've bad a bard time. He was a brave man and a true frit ml to us, 
but Ins enemies killed him. 

At ibis point of the conversation Mrs. Walker said: "Sister Hall, 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 135 

Mr. was a good man, and a true friend to our people, but Walker 

makes me so mad about politics I don't know what to do. Why, don't 
you know that he's got little enough sense to believe that he can fill 
an office, and he doesn't know politics from any other kind of ticks; he 
never gets in a hurry unless he's going to an election. When he goes 
anywhere else he usually stays long enough to make three or four trips ; 
he is actually the slowest man I ever saw. I'm sorry I married a Walker ; 
if ever I marry again I shall marry a Runner or a Trotter." We had 
a big laugh over what she said, and this ended the conversation. But 
since that time I have given political affairs closer attention; and not 
only politics, but I have noticed the actions of the Nations more, and 
have given the Bible closer study. 

In 1891 I was elected to teach at Slabbtown, Miss. At the time 
of the election I was winding up my work at Ok., and before going 
to this little town the news came to me that the white people had built 
a new schoolhouse right by the side of the one that I was going to teach 
in, in order to break up the colored school, as they had too many schools 
there. 

Well, I didn't know but what I would have to lose the position as did 
the postmaster. 

Friends advised me not to go there, but my husband and I talked 
the matter over. He said that he had heard the same statement, but 
frit satisfied that there would be no trouble. 

I summoned up courage and went with a determination to do my 
duty. My husband had been teaching at Flower Lake, but lie was to 
take charge of the school in the sticks, a few miles from my work. 

The last of that week found me comfortablj situated at the borne 
mI' Mr. and Mrs. High. The following Monday i opened school in an 
old log schoolhouse a few yards from the white school. T hope that you 
will nol consider this personal praise, but T nmsl say that 1 believe thai 
m ol work in that community will live alter I'm -one. I have 

never been treated better by white people. 

Quite a number of them who visited Prof. school risited mine 

also; and I didifi hear a dispute between his and tny pupils. The 
building where 1 had my closing exercise was crowded with people of 
both race-. The trustees were so well pleased with nay work they offered 
to pay my way from this city to that it' I would return and leach the 
school. Pardon me tor digressing, hut I mentioned this on accounl 
of the eniiilict in-- circumstances. 



136 



THE POLITICAL RELATION OF THE NEGRO. 



The amendment that granted suffrage to the Negro has a mourn- 
ful sound to me; that is, when I look at the covered and uncovered 
snares in the political pathway, and when I think of the many things 
that have caused the Nation's heart to quiver and bleed. 

The country is agitated to-day over the crooked appearance of this 
Nation who bore the weight of its body too soon. 

Now, after carefully scrutinizing the political position of this mis- 
guided, bow-legged Nation at the polls, in office and at its home, I won- 
der how it has existed. But as I look up I see that the Angel of Mercy 
has poised over it with outspread wings, averting the disaster as it 




MRS. CHARLOTTE M. DILLINGHAM 
(Lamented.) 

threatens to crush it. May that angel continue to poise in the same 
position, and may this Nation produce a few more competent, honest, 
straight-legged men who will be a credit and an honor to Negro suff- 
rage, for the time is not far distant when other Nations shall expect it 
to come out in an honorable, manly, patriotic way and take its place. 

Now, I most humbly beg all of you to read from Exodus to Chron- 
icles, and I think that you will understand thoroughly how the problem 
may be solved; for I think the result will be the same as that of the 
Israelites. 



TRUE GREATNESS. 



137 



TRUE ORE A TNESS. 



The great God of heaven and earth made man in his own image. 

After making man he fashioned woman out of one of his ribs; and 
placed the pair in a garden. And from that time until the present now, 
man has had a zeal to he wise, and has been concerned about his own 
welfare. 

At first nature gave him ease and comfort without a struggle on 
his part. 




CHAPLAIN R. S. LAWERANCE, 
Of Charleston, S. C, Noted Christian 
Worker Among Prisoners. Singer, 
Private Secretary to Bishop M. j. 
Salter. 



Bui man became dissatisfied and wanted to search into God's mys- 
teries. "But his judgments are unsearchable, and his ways are past 
finding out." 






There was something among man's surroundings that was a mystery 
that puzzled him, ami whilst seeking an understanding he was inclosed 
in a network of greater mysteries. 

Since then Nature has forced him to labor. 

But as God had given man a wonderful zeal for knowledge, it was 
not long before man began to observe the phenomena of nature, and 






138 



TRUE GREATNESS. 



struggle for a better "understanding of the earth and sky. After being 
driven out of the garden his condition was a sad one; naked and without 




REV. J. H. COLLETT, D. D., 
Financier, Business Manager of the A. M. E. Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 

food he started out in life, but necessity forced him to observe experi- 
ments and discover truths of natur< . He had to labor for food, raiment. 



>,,,:<: 



TRUE GREATNESS. 



139 



shelter, and had to labor to obtain nature's treasures. True greatness 
depends upon labor; knowledge is revealed and unfolded through it, 
and mental and spiritual growth depends upon it. Necessity forced 
man to study nature, and her majestic laws; so lie began to read the 
earth, the sky, the air and the water; hence the structure of accumulated 
knowledge began to grow larger; it has grown larger through each cen- 
tury. And to-day science and art are whispering so many laws to man, 
and giving him so many advantages through invention, that we can but 
says ••Cod is truly great," and man is the image of Him. Every invention 
exemplifies God's power, beauty and truth more fully. When scientific 




REV. J. M. ANDERSON, 

One of the best examples of Christian 
piety exhibited by long years of suc- 
cess in the A. M. E. ministry. Pas- 
tor of Allen Chapel. Athens, Texas. 



truths began to reveal to man's understanding the relationship of one 
substance to the other, and the use of the earth, he had no idea that 
relationship would lead to present discoveries and inventions. Step by 
step he is giving to the world new and wonderful discoveries, and is 
being called truly great. Sweep away the scientific knowledge that 
truly great men has given us, and the greal wealth and strength of the 
world will be weakened ; and mankind will reverl again into the condition 
of the first general ion. 

I am truly thankful that we are held responsible only for the im- 



140 



TRUE GREATNESS. 




— ■=■- — ^"~ 






W?W: 



*>.. 










HON. LEWIS M. MITCHELL, AUSTIN, TEXAS, 
Grand Chancellor Knights of Pythias, elected 1896-1904. Supreme 
Vice Chancellor, Supreme Worthy Councillor in the I. O. O. C. 



TRUE GREATNESS. 141 

provement of that which God has given us. 

Do the duty that lies nearest you and please God. 

If duty leads you to scale the mountain walls and penetrate into 
the interesting country of Tibet, it is your duty to brave the dangers, 
and let the world know what is stored therein. 

Wherever duty lies, there you will find true greatness. 

Sometimes it is found in low places and sometimes in high ones. 
And sometimes it is found among the poor, the lame, the blind, the 

deaf and the dumb. 

•'God's ways are past finding out." He has given to different men 
different talents, a will and a conscience to use them; and opportunities 
to improve them. Then argue as you may, and believe as you choose, as 
to who are truly great, but if you probe deep into the core of true great- 
ness, you will find the truly great in many places where you have not 
looked for them. 

He who formed all things and governs them according to his own 
benevolent and wise design, gave each man, woman and child their 
own natures, gave them different talents and placed them in different 
spheres. Therefore, true greatness is found among those who do the duty 
that lies nearest within their reach, hence the man or woman who fulfills 
his mission with an honesty of purpose the best he can, with a clear 
conscience in the sight of God, is truly great. 

We see great people from different view points. 

When we look rightly, we see true greatness in some who are living 
secluded and cloistered lives, and in others because they have power to 
apprehend and distinguish, to weigh evidence and interpret facts, to 
think clearly, to infer carefully, and to imagine vividly. 

We look again and see true greatness in many an humble home. 
Many common laborers who carry their burdens and perform their 
duties as best they can, are honest, pious and truly great. The poor old 
washer woman who washes her clothes clean, performs her household 
duties as best she can, and is pious and virtuous, is truly great. The 
cook who performs her duty and lives a pure Christian life is truly 
great. 

He who is great in the sight of God is truly great; be he rich, poor, 
high or low. Adaptability and perseverance is one of the prices of 
success. If you have a low for a common position, pay the price, and 
make a success of that; many have achieved fame in some of the most 
humble positions. If you have a Love for a high position, pay the price 
and make a success of that. Many a painful failure stares at us and 
points us back to neglected opportunities; then let us improve the op- 
portunities accorded us, and perform our duty in low places as well as in 
high ones. Be contented with the lot assigned, and perform the duty 
noarcsi von. Some have been sent into the ministerial field, who seemed 
to wane with the years, while other stars seemed to gain hrilliance as 
their rays appeared undimmed in the theological sky. Bui that minister 
who did his best, and praised God with a pure heart, using the talent? 



142 



TRUE GREATNESS. 



God had given him, was honored just as much by the Father as the 
brilliant one. Your best may not always be satisfactory, but if God 







PROF. W. E. EWING, DALLAS, TEXAS, 
Embalmer, Manager People's Undertaking Co., Graduate of Meyers' 

Embalming School. 

sent you. He is pleased; you arc responsible only Tor "sing to the best 
advantage the talent that God lias given you. 



TRUE GREATNESS. 



143 



The preacher who has power to attract a large crowd to religious ser- 
vice may not be any more honest and in earnest than the one who 
does his best to instruct, interest, lift up, and help his few hearers. 

Inspire others to nobler living by being an example. "Practice 
what you preach." 

Sometimes the quiet, unassuming man is doing the greatest good. 

God gave us different missions to fill; hence we are adapted for 
different positions. But I believe that he intended for us to toil for 




REV. W. M. LEAKE. D. D., 

Pioneer Minister in the A. M. E. 
Church, active in service. Presiding 
Elder of the Terrell District. 

greater and higher achievements in whatever sphere we are placed. We 
must bravely meet the responsibilities, and pull down the barriers in our 
ascendency for greatness. 

Sometimes the sphere is small, and the circle for doing good is 
limited; yet some of the greatest good has been done within narrow 
confines. Hence, it is not the one that lias the greatest opportunity that 
does the greatest good. I often think of the litle maxim that says, 
"Necessity is the mother of invention." 



144 



PROF. L. S. SIMMONS. 



PEOF. L. S. SIMMONS, 

Grand Keeper of Records and Seal of the Knights of Pythias, Jurisdic- 
tion of Texas, Marlin, Texas. 
He first saw the light at Goliad, in Goliad County, October 1st, 



is. 




1866. When quite an infant his mother carried him to Galveston, where 
she remained for a year or better. 

After hearing of her sisters in Washington County who were sepa- 
rated from her on the auction block in Houston for here, she left an<! 



PROF. L. S. SIMMONS. 



145 



went to this point, locating at Chappel Hill. This is where he received- 
his early training in the pay and public schools under the instruction 
of Prof! J. P. Ball. 

His parents being poor, and desiring to give him all the advantages 
of an education, he was sent to live with Kev. J. W. Randolph, who 
was then pastor of St. Paul A. M. E. Church, Waco, Texas; there he 
attended Rev. Randolph's High School. It was at this place where, in 
company with Prof. H. T. Kealing, he cleared away the rubbish and 




MR. A. HONLEY, 
Expert Carriage Packer and Ware- 
house Superintendent. 

renovated the old log house where Paul Quinn College now stands, and 
organized the first Sabbath school in this cite. 

In 1881 he turned his head homeward, and began to prepare to 
teach his first school. He received his first certificate to teach in Austin 
County in 1882; 1883, 1884 and 1885 he taught in Washington County. 
He was one of the election clerks at Chappcll Hill when that noted 
raid was made on the ballot box, and four of the officers in the booth 
were shot down, he sticking to his oath grabbed the box in the midst of 



146 



PROF. L. S. SIMMONS. 



showering balls and fled to a house and remained secluded until a posse 
ten miles away came to his rescue. 

In 1886 he left Washington County and came to Falls County, 
where he made his home. He was secured in 1886 to teach the Rocky 
Hill Graded school, which he has taught for. eighteen consecutive years, 
and has been employed to continue. Prof. Simmons is a lover of secret 
fraternities, belonging to the Odd Fellows, U. B. of F. and K. of P. He 




PROF. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, A. M., LL.D., 

The Founder and Principal of the Tuskegee Norma) 
and Industrial Institute. 



served as the Assistant Grand Secretary of the U. B. of F. for fourteen 
years. On May 14, 1901, he was elected to the office of Grand Keeper 
of Records and Seal of the K. of P. In 1902 re-elected, again in 1903 
and 1904; elected both times without opposition. 

He is known throughout the country as a business and a clerical 
man. By this he has acquired quite a handsome part of this world's 
goods. Strictly speaking, i? is a self-made man. 



REV. A. R. GRIGGS. 



147 



REV. ALLEN R. GRIGGS, D. D. 
Rev. Allen R. Griggs, D. D., Dallas, Texas, who is now Superin- 
tendent of Missions for the Baptist Missionary and Educational Con- 
vention of Texas, and General State Missionary of the American Bap- 
tist Home Mission Society of New York, is the son of Elbert and Bra- 
ilia, and was born about 1850 in Hancock County, Georgia. He joined 




the Baptist Church in 1869, was ordained to the ministry in Septem- 
ber, 1874. He married in 1870 and is the father of eight children, 
three of whom are still living; one is a minister of the gospel, another 
studying law, and the youngest is teaching. 

Rev. Griggs was ordained for a missionary and followed that until 
the third Sunday in July, 1875, when he was called to the pastorate of 
New Hope Church, of Dallas, Texas, which church he served about ten 






148 



REV. A. R. GRIGGS. 



years. He might well be called a pioneer minister and Christian worker. 
He was the first to establish a purely Negro high school in Texas. 
He published the first Negro newspaper in the State. He was one of 
the active field agents in collecting the money for the purchase of the 
campus for Bishop College, of which he is now Trustee. He was on 










F.EV. C. A. HARRIS, M. D., 
Physician and Surgeon. 
Grand Joshua Courts of Heroines, 
Grand Chaplain of the Sovereign 
Most Worshipful Grand Lodge F. 
and A. M., in Texas. A church 
builder, progressive and a worthy 
minister, worthy of all honor in the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church 
Pastor of Wayman Chapel, Ennis, 
Texas. 

the Board of Trustees when Hearne Academy was founded. 

He has been editor of the following newspapers : The Baptist Jour- 
nal, The Baptist Preacher, The Centennial Dollar Eeporter, The Dallas 
Christian Leaflet and The National Baptist Bulletin, and is now asso- 
ciate editor of the Western Star. 

For several years he was corresponding secretary and superintend- 
ent of missions for the Texas State Sunday-school Convention, president 



TAJ1 

REV. R. A. GRIGGS. 



149 



of the Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention of Texas, and 
for several years president of the National Baptist Convention. In 
1893 he was made a member of the World's Parliament of Religions, 
held in Chicago, 111. He is the author of a missionary and evangelical 
wagon, for mission work in city slums and the rural districts, at a cost 
of $500. 

He has been recently nominated as a delegate from Texas to the 




PROF. ARCHIE A. SMITH, 
Musician. A progressive young man 
worthy of emulation. 

Pan-Baptist Congress to meet in London, England, in July, 1905. 

In 1891 the State University of Kentucky conferred upon him the 
degree of D. D. The Dallas City daily paper said of him : "He is a man 
of unblemished moral character, sterling honest, and more than ordinary 
intelligence. His word is his bond, and all who know him confide in 
his financial integrity." 



150 



A BOUQUET OF ADMIRATION. 




A BOUQUET OF ADMIRATION TO THE MANY 
READERS OF THIS BOOK. 



A RAMBLE AMONG THE FLOWERS. 

A RAMBLE AMONG THE FLOWERS. 

On the hill, by the brook, in the garden and meadow, 
I looked for flowers high and low; 
And I spent many pleasant hours 
In my ramble among the flowers. 



151 




DR. R. T. HAMILTON, DALLAS, TEXAS. 
Physician and Surgeon. 

Finally a bed I spied, 

And with violets, it was occupied; 

But the sweet spring violets greeted me 

With faces that were full of dee. 



152 A RAMBLE AMONG THE FLOWERS. 

I passed on to the Garden Pinks so sweet, 

Though they didn't smile as if to greet, 

But the prostrate branches with leafy upturned ends 

Seemed to say I am your friend. 

Next I saw the Dandelion, 

Though it is very common, 

I shall never forget this golden flower, 

It reminds me of a childhood hour. 

The Evening Primrose I'll next mention, 
For this yellow flower attracts attention, 
The bush so grand and tall 
Tries to appear more stately than all. 

Later on, I saw a wild Geranium 
That was purple, pale and grum, 
It stood erect, but did not bow, 
Hence I passed on to another flower. 

When I saw the Rose, I became enhanced 
By its dignity, beauty and fragrance. 
Oh, its odor was so sweet ! 
Without the rose, a garden is incomplete. 

But a more attractive flower never was seen 
Than the Popy with its verdue green, v 
It is so graceful, with its variety of colors, 
Some prefer it above all others. 

Now it wouldn't be wise to omit 

The striped spotted little Tulip, 

For this mixture of yellow, purple and white 

Is a flower of delight. 

Sudden a flower bailed me 

And said, "I am a Daisy." 

Tben I smiled and said, "I declare. 

You are a beauty both rich and rare." 



A RAMBLE AMONG THE FLOWERS. 

Oh! ha! ha! ha! I forgot 

The blue Forget-me-Not, 

But this little flower 1 did not slight, 

Which made its request with delight. 



153 




PROF. N. W. HARLLEE, A. M., 
Principal of Dallas Colored High School, Special 
porter to the Dallas Morning News, Superinten- 
dent of the Colored Departmenl of the 
State Fair. 

The Lily, that flower of purity. 

Is one of the favorite flowers with me; 

T like to put it in my room, 

I like its color and perfume. 



£31 
154 



A RAMBLE AMONG THE FLOWERS. 

On my way home I received a shock 
From a beautiful little Four-o'Clock, 
Which said you made a mistake 
By staying out so late. 




MISS SULA MAE PORTER. 

Graduate of the Dallas High School, 
with a bright future as a teacher and 
a business young lady. Useful to the 
race. 

For the Morning Glory, with its bluish hue, 
Has bidden all adieu. 

But I said, "Oh, no; it will greet me with a smile," 
Whilst I sit by the window and while 

Away the morning hours, 
Thinking of my ramble among the flowers, 
And as I look at my pretty bouquet. 
That's interspersed by a spray. 



WOMAN'S RIGHTS. 155 

WOMAN'S RIGHTS. 

With me on woman's rights 

You all may not agree. 
But I think her principal duty 

Is that of housewifery ; 
For when she trains up a child in the right way 

She has casted a vote in the right direction, 
And that vote's as powerful 

As if casted at an election. 

A woman has the right to do her duty 

And make the sorrowing ones glad ; 
To make all around her cheerful 

And cheer the weary and sad; 
To be a Christian worker, 

Help the sick and lame, 
Praise the Lord above her, 

And wear an untarnished name. 

Rejoice in working for the Lord, 

Be faithful until the end ; 
Whilst traveling life's rugged pathway 

He will be your guide and friend. 
Be faithful and submissive, 

Trust him for everything, 
For he is the Lord of Lords, 

And he is the King of Kings. 

Sometimes you're tempted by Satan 

To err in the pathway of sin, 
His fruits are very enticing 

When persuading you to enter in ; 
But tell him your pathway is narrow, 

Tell him your pathway is straight. 
And tell him you've promised the Savior 

To enter the gloden gate. 

She can cast a vote every day 
By living in the right, 






156 



WOMAN'S RIGHTS. 

By doing her duty at home, 

By helping others sight 
What God intended they should do; 

Then she will help the country, the State, 
And she will also help 

The nation to be great. 



"mj 






£Mtf 




REV. M. D. MOODY, D. D., 
Pastor of Wesley Chapel A. M. E. Church, Houston, 

Texas. 

And to instill in them duty 

And the right principle. 
Tell her husband how to vote. 

Or the man she wants elected, 
And tell her boys whose names to leave 

And the ones she wants rejected. 



WOMAN'S RIGHTS. 

Then she helps elect and support 

One for the government 
Though she did not go to the polls; 

You see her vote was sent. 
Most all men like to see women 

In what they call their places, 
And some say the virtues mentioned 

Adds much to their graces. 

A faithful Christian woman 

Is a beauty to behold, 
When work for her Master is finished, 

She enters the gates of gold; 
Angels are there waiting, 

Eeady to welcome her in 
And presents to her a starry crown 

For not being allured by sin. 



157 




REV. MOSES JOHNSON. DECEASED, 

Brenham, Texas. 

Late Pastor Twenty i wo Years of Mt. 
Rose Baptist Church. 



158 ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 

ETHEL BBOWN'S TESTIMONY. 

Mama, come kneel beside my bed, 

Then place your hand upon my head, 

And I'll tell you something that's sad, but true, 

About the things you've failed to do. 

I can't speak loud, but I'll try to speak clear, 

So every word, you'll be sure to hear. 

My very heart is chilled within, 

Because I was reared in a house of sin. 

Mamma, you've failed to teach me to pray, 

And now I can not see the way. 

Though I've had everything wished at any cost, 

But groped in sin, so now I'm lost. 

Tell my associates to not trust in riches here, 

But to grasp the treasures that are more dear. 

'Tis true that I've discovered my mistake, 

But alas ! alas ! it is too late; 

For I'm in so much misery, I can not pray 

For the forgiveness of my sins, and learn the way. 

Gold is useful here, but will not pay the way, 
Therefore you should have taught me to pray ; 
You knew I could not stay here always; 
Why didn't you teach me to give God praise? 
So mamma, trust things that will stand the test, 
And assure you of a place of rest. 

You are to blame for my doom. 

Though you didn't think I'd be called so soon; 

Father was working to make us happy here, 

And left us in your care to rear. 

You taught us to dress fine, and be vain, 

But failed to help us remove the stains 

From off the garments we wore each day ; 

Therefore we've failed to be stylish in the right way. 

Mamma, don't cry, but listen to me. 






ETHEL BROWNS TESTIMONY. 



159 




REV. A. G. SCOTT, D. D., 

The Tireless, Fearless and Successful Presiding Elder, Dallas District, 



For I'm in so much misery, 

I fear that I can not tell you 

What I want you to do. 

Now promise me that you'll learn to pray, 

And that you'll help clothe Widow Gray, 

For in the Lord she delighteth much. 

But hasn't comfortable clothes to wear to church. 



160 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 



She goes through the mud without overshoes, 
But often gives the last nickle to pay her dues. 

If I had served the Lord like her, you know 

I would not be afraid to go 

Through the valley and shadow of death, 

For Fd go to eternal happiness. 

Oh, I feel the need of Christ to-day, 

To accompany and show me the way ! 





MRS. ELLEN BRUCE, 

Waxahachie, Texas. 

A Good Christian, Devoted to Her 

Home. 



Mamma, tell Sister Eosa to come here ; 

I can't talk long, for the time draws near 

When we shall part, perhaps forever. 

But I hope that you will never 

Go to the land of despair, 

But will go to one that's bright and fair. 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 



161 



Rosa dear, I must go; 

For I've been sentenced to a land of woe; 

My dear sister, death shall sever 

The ties that link us so close together. 

But let this be a token, don't wait too late, 

Or you'll meet with the same sad fate. 




DR. G. S. MOORE, 
Mexia, Texas. 
Physician and Surgeon. 

I've lived nineteen years, three months and a day, 

But in a few hours, Fll pass away 

Into a land of misery and pain, 

All because I've been sinful and vain. 

I am old enough to know the way. 

But haven't been thoughtful enough to pray. 

Has papa come yet? Does he know I'm sick? 
Oh telegraph again, and tell him to come quick. 
If he does not come before I go, 
Tell him to not oppress the poor ; 



162 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 



But the evil things of this life shun, 
And believe in Christ ; that holy one. 

When he comes, if I am dead, 
Tell him everything I've said. 









REV. P. C. HUNT, D. D., 

Presiding Elder of the Houston District, Texas, 

A. M. E. Conference. 

Come closer, mamma, and kiss me good-bye, 
Hush, Rosa ! don't cry, 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 



163 



But promise me you'll learn to pray 

So when called to go, you'll know the way. 

Then she looked around, frowned, and closed her eyes; 

Never before was heard such cries. 

The mother with grief was almost crazed. 

At the shrieks of Rosa, all were amazed. 

The father just arrived in time to see his child. 

He wrung his hands, and acted like some one wild. 




MRS. LULA KERR, 
Bastrop, Texas. 
A Teacher and Musician widely 
known throughout the South. 

Ethel Brown's testimony, on her death-bed, 

Had more effect than all that had been said 

By preachers, teachers, or any one. 

Who had tried to teach sinners to shun 

The awful fate that did await. 

After they'd passed through the judgment gate. 



Old, young, rich and poor. 
Never had witnessed such before ; 



164 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 



And ever} 7 one mourned, for Ethel Brown 
Was called the belle of the town. 
And friends followed slowly, nor did they halt 
Until the casket was carried to the vault. 







REV. D. S. MOTEN, B. D., 
Graduate of Payne Seminary. Wilberforce, Ohio, Chief 
Secretary of the Northeast Texas A. M. E. Conference, 
Assoicate Editor of the Texas Recorder, a great preach- 
er, ripe scholar and one of the best A. M. E. pastors in 
Texas, a successful manager of Christian Endeavors, 
now pastor at Allen Chapel, Fort Worth. Texas. 

Oh how they wept at the grave, 
But didn't have power her soul to save. 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 

Some of the sinners inwardly resolved 
To take Ethel's advice, and serve the Lord, 
And some of the Christians resolved to do more 
Than they had ever clone before. 

The mother went home with a bowed head, 
Because she mourned for her dead. 
Eosa looked very sad and lone, 
Because her sister was gone. 



165 




MRS. ADDIE BENSON, 
Dallas, Texas. 
An Expert in the Culinary Art. Has 
reeceived several awards from the 
Texas State Fair. 

And no one could the father cheer, 
Because he mourned for his daughter dear. 



Even the place looked lonesome and bare, 

Because Ethel Brown wasn't there. 

And that cold November night 

Even Nature dressed the place in white; 

And the next morning the flowers bowed their heads, 

Because Ethel Brown was dead, 



1G6 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 



And couldn't protect them from the snow. 
However, only the day before 
They smelt fragrant and were in bloom, 
But the next, they withered and were in gloom. 
From the appearance of each leaf. 
It seemed that the trees themselves had grief. 




REV. W. D. F. PYLE, D. D., 

Hillsboro, Texas. 
The Intellectual and and Progressive 
Pastor of Wade Chapel A. M. E. 
Church. 

When the sun rose, the snow did not stay, 

But silently slipped away 

And left the grass on its knees, 

And tears dripping from the trees. 

It seemed that the house with tears were bathed, 

Because Ethel was not saved. 



They didn't preach her funeral 
Because she said she was going to dwell 



ETHEL BROWN'S TESTIMONY. 167 

In a place of pain ancT misery, 

Throughout through eternity. 
But if she had not left this testimony 
Some would have said she went to glory. 

Some one has died in every town 
Leaving the testimony of Eethel Brown 
Written upon the tablet of their heart, 
Though they were not so smart, 
Whilst on the verge of dispair, 
As to warn other poor sinners to beware. 

She saved her sister, parents and friends, too, 

By telling them what to do. 

And sometimes Mrs. Brown would go with Widow Grey 

And kneel with her when she went to pray. 

They'd often kneel in the same pew 

And praise the Lord that's good and true. 

Let tli is be a token, not only to the Browns, 

But 1o the people of all the towns. 

Wouldn't yon like to live in the home on' high? 

You know that you have got to die 

And be placed in a grave or vault; 

But there your soul will never halt,, 

But will soar to a land of rest. 
Or will go to one where all distressed. 
Now, think where you'll spend eternity; 
Whether it will be in peace or misery. 
And if you'd like to be of great renown, 
Take the advice of Ethel Brown. 

It matters not whether you're rich or poor, 

It's your duty to be sure 

That Christ has cleansed your heart of sin 

Before you lose your health; for when 

You're on your death-bed, looking in the grave, 

'Tis hard to believe that Christ will save. 



!68 THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND TIME. 

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND TIME. 
I have made a comparison between the Mississippi and time, 
And have put my thoughts into rhyme. 
Near this river I had pleasure, thoughts and fears 
Often and on for about two years. 
I have sat on its banks under shady bowers 
As I whiled away many leisure hours 
Watching the rolling water go 
On its way to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Now what stories do you suppose it told 
When it whispered to me, laughed and rolled ? 
It said, "I am wonderful, my ways are strange, 
For sometimes my bed I change." 

"I am not always in the same mood; 
Sometimes I'm peaceful, sometimes rude, 
Sometimes angry, sometimes calm, 
Sometimes I protect and sometimes I harm. 
I carry with me things that you wear and eat, 
Without me your commerce would be incomplete. 
I carry with me life and death, 
Sometimes I am pernicious when I cometh, 
And ofttimes whilst in my haste 
They say, I bring ruin and waste; 
But when in this propensity 
It matters not what I see. 

"If it doesn't get out of my way, 
I tear it down, injure or slay. 
At other times I am as peaceful and mild 
And harmless as a little child. 
Then I am so good and true, 
I let people play on my bosom blue; 
Let them take a nice little ride 
Across my stream or down my tide. 
Do you think I'm wonderful and strange 
Because I continue to change? 
Ha ! ha ! ha ! I am full of changes as I go 
On my way to the Gulf of Mexico." 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND TIME. 169 

What wonderful changes this river makes! 

And if I make not a mistake, 

Time changes any and all things 

As it speeds on its wings. 

One day whilst on the banks I sat, 

Time passed by and we had a chat. 

However, it did not tarry, 

But silently said I carry 

"With me the good and bad, 

The industrious, lazy, merry and sad, 

Loss, gain, mis fortune, success, 

Health, disease, joy and distress." 

"Sometimes I come boldly, sometimes by stealth, 
And carry away your health and wealth. 
For tide and I do not wait 
For no man or a better fate. 
It matters not what I bring or carry. 
I shall not rest, sleep, or tarry ; 
But shall roll on, until God stops me, 
For this is my propensity. 
I shall roll on into eternity, 
And hear you tell how you used me. 
Hence, if } r ou want to leave this world without a fear, 
Make good use of me whilst you are here. 

"I have-often lool ed al trees rising on each side 

Of the Mississippi river so large and wide. 

They would lool; itely and strong, 

They would look like they'd stand there so long. 

Bui should 1 quesl ion them to-day, 

If they could . some would say, 

"The Mississippi river washed all 

The dirt from my roots, hence I had to fall 

And be buried in a watery grave, 

For I didn't have power myself to save.'" 

Now a thought comes to > 

That such is the case with humanity. 



170 THE MISSISSIPPI RrVER AND TIME. 

I've seen so many who were healthy and strong, 
Who are numbered with the silent throng, 
But should I question them to-day, 
If they could speak, some would say : 
"Time swept the foundation from under my frame 
By disease; and on the bed of affliction I had lain 
Many days, before the Death Angel made his call ; 
But when he came I had to fall 
So now I'm in the silent grave ; 
For I didn't have power myself to save." 
Hence all will have to cross the chilly tide 
Before they can reach the other side. 

The Mississippi said, "As I drain 

Over a million square miles of the Great Central Plain, 

Some places I damage, some I destroy, 

But when my work is done you can employ 

Many who were idle before 

The overflow. 

I not only damage, but I make fertile soil, 

Hence, when on it you sow and toil, 

You may expect everything to yield 

That's been planted in the field. 

You may not understand me as I sweep through the land, 

But I obey God's command. 

"I've seen animals struggle against the waves, 
Hold their heads up and try to save 
Their lives; but finally the cold 
Water would silently fold 
Them in its insiduous arms, 
As if to say, "I mean no harm." 
Sometimes, when I would look at the boats glide 
Over its bosom so smooth and wide, 
And the great steam boats make their way 
Up and clown the stream as if at play, 
In the steel-like water so soft and cold 
I would think them brave and bold. 



Sometimes cyclones, and winds sweep through the land, 



THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND TIME. 171 

But they are only obeying God's command. 
At times they make it easier for us to make a livelihood, 
"For it's an ill wind that blows no one good." 
I have seen people struggle when about to sink 
Or fall over death's brink 
Into Jordan's chilly stream, 
And they could formulate no scheme 
That would land them on the other side, 
Without crossing that chilly tide. 
For that was the way they had to go 
To reach the other shore. 

On the tides of time we float 
Over this ocean in life's boat; 
And we daily and hourly glide 
Over its bosom so long and wide. 
But at any moment we are liable to sink. 
Oh did you ever stop and think 
Of the danger you are in 
In this world of sorrow and sin? 
Perhaps when you think of the river and time, 
You'll prepare for another clime, 
For Christ will lead the prepared across Jordan's tide 
And land them safe on the other side. 

r 

The Mississippi changes, as it goes to its destination, 
But does not stop at a land or station; 
But Hows into the Gulf, 
And deposits different kinds of stuff. 
So it is witli time, she continues to flee 
With different kinds of people into eternity. 
Time flies, and the river flows, 
However, each one onward goes, 
In its own peculiar way, 
Hour by hour, and day by day. 
Xow tell me truly, don't you 
Believe this comparison is true? 



172 




REV. J. W. RANKIN, D. D., 

Bishop Tyree's Private Secretary Editor of Texas Recorder, Presiding 

Elder of Waxahachie District, Northeast Texas Conference. 



POLITICS. 173 

POLITICS. 

Politics is the science of government, 
And management is its intent. 
Then the government should have at it's head 
Men that are intelligent and well-bred; 
Men of the right policy and principle; 
Men that are wise and sensible. 

At the close of the war 

I think it would have been better far 

If the Negro had let politics alone; 

For the first thing he needed was a home, 

An education and clothes; 

I think these are things they should have chose. 

He had not attained a sufficient amount of civilization 

To know what was best for the nation. 

But in the first place, 

He didn't know what was best for the race. 

Sometimes he voted against his own welfare, 

But if he got a few dollars he did not care. 

Sometimes before he voted for a man 

He would require the money in his hand. 

I suppose he thought that one would 

Do as much good as the other could 

In presenting policies to help his condition, 

For he thought to them he was an abomination, 

And appeared vandalic anyway, 

However, it was his duty to say 

I'll choose who I want myself, 

And will make a living without pelf. 

And he should have remained neutral still, 

Rather than vote for one against his will. 

Polities aroused envy and hate 

Against the Negroea in (lie Southern States, 

Because the white man thoughl himself better 



174 POLITICS. 

Than the man who didn't know a letter. 

And very few were willing for a Negro's time to be spent 

In an office, if he was competent. 

And when the war was closed 

1 think it would have been, better if our friends had chosen 
Other methods of helping the race ; 
For if other necessities had taken the place 
Of politics, until we had made some progress, 
I think we would have advanced faster in usefulness.. 

Hence past blunders and mistakes 

Have caused him to meet with ill fate, 

And in some States they disfranchised 

Him, because he's not wealthy and wise. 

In other States he's deprived of some rights, too, 

But offices are given to a few. 

Upon this shubject it seems that I might 

Several pages write. 

But I look on both sides of it so much 

It makes me timid when I touch 

My pen, for I think that my thoughts may 

Not be understood in the right way. 

Hence I have handled it with care. 

However, feeling that all are aware 

Of their duty to God, and their duty to man, 

Now, I hope that the politicians will help to plan 

Different ways for the Negroes' time to be spent. 

I mean those who are able and competent. 




SUPREMELY POWER 175 



SUPREMELY POWER. 

When guided by supremely pow'r 
Through shifting scenes of life, 

Sunshine will light up the pathway, 
Though low hangs clouds of strife. 

Though traveling through a desert, 

If led by God's own hands; 
The feet will not be blistered, 

By the hot scorching sands. 

When traveling through a valley, 

Secure the help of God; 
Tbe way may be dark and weary. 

But continue to plod. 

When guided by heavenly pow'r, 

Within this world of sin; 
No force the mighty pow'r withstand, 

Of Christ the strongest friend. 

When guided by divinely pow'r, 

Our duty is to go; 
T hough the way leads o'er high mountain?, 

That is capped with snow. 

When guided by God's own pow'r, 

We'll be victorious; 
Then who will not honor and praise, 

That name that's glorious. 

If guided by a holy pow'r, 

On eternity's brink; 
We can cross Jordans chilly tide, 

But in it will not sink. 

Serve God ,He's great. He's good and IT is 

Strength is mightier far. 
Than any help you can secure, 

Or any earthly pow'r. 

Be guided by the only pow'r, 

In which you are secure; 
The pow'r that's lasting and will 

Kternal life insure. . 



176 BUILD YOUR HOUSE UPON THE ROCK. 

BUILD YOUR HOUSE UPON THE ROCK. 

Don't be like the foolish man 
Who built his house upon the sand, 
For when the storms and winds 
Beat upon it, it will fall in. 
But build it on the rock like the wise man, 
Then it can stand, then it can stand ! 
The rains, winds and storms, 
For its foundation they cannot harm. 

If you build your house upon the rock 
The rains may beat upon the housetop, 
But it will not fall in, 
Matters not how they descend, 
But if you build it upon the sand 
It cannot stand, it cannot stand, 
For when the storms come, and rains descend, 
It will topple, and fall in. 

Build your house upon a firm foundation, 
'Twill save you of troubles, trials and vexations, 
For if the tempest is violent, rough and wild, 
Christ will protect and save His child. 
But if it's built upon the sand, 
When the billows surge, it cannot stand. 
And should there be an overflow, 
It will be swepi by the billows below. 

All that's pure, humble and blest 

Can trust in the Lord for peace and rest. 

When the storms are raging and lightning flashing 

You'll not have any fear of your house clashing, 

For the King that died on Calvary 

Will a true friend to His children be. 

Then act prudent, serve the Lord. 

And build your house where it can't be destroyed. 

'Tis the foolish who disobey Cod's command 



BUILD YOUR HOUSE UPON THE ROCK. 

And build their houses upon the sand. 

All who disobey God's voice, 

And the downward way make their choice, 

Is likened unto the foolish man 

Who built his house upon the sand; 

But the house that's built upon a rock, 

When the winds blow, falleth not. 



177 





REV. J. R. MELONTREE. A. B., 

>r of the a. M. E. Church, Marlin, Texaa. 



178 ARE WE LOYAL TO THE STARS AND STRIPES? 

ABE WE LOYAL TO THE STAES AND STRIPES? 
Negroes were introduced 

Into America in 1619, 
And the shackles of bondage were not loosed 

Until 1865 : hence freedom was like a dream. 

The Negro's progress was much retarded 
Before freedom was declared, 
Nor knew the meaning of stripes or star, 
For he fared awful bad. 

The policy of the states they knew not ; 
In the District of Columbia they were forgot; 
But whilst thinking over their sad fate 
They demurred until the war of states. 

Only a few had been trained 

Into manhood or citizenship, 
But many had been stained 

With blood from the whip. 

They didn't know much about the polity 

Of the country or State; 
That's one reason why he appeared paltry, 

Stolid, vandalic, and inadequate. 

Matters not what has been done, 

Be loyal to the stars and stripes, 
For 'tis the duty of every one 

To love their country, and do the right. 

The United States has a government 

By which its citizens should abide. 
However, all who are sent 

To the ' Legislature should decide 

To make laws to help the Negroes 

Take their places as citizens; 
Then they will be willing to bestow 

Their lives for Americans. 



ARE WE LOYAL TO THE STARS AND STRIPES? 179 

Some are willing now 

To go to the battlefield and fight. 
Look at the late battle and see how 

They fought for the stars and stripes. 

The Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth infantry 

Were famous fighting regiments 
Who fought for humanity 

And for the government. 

The Ninth Cavalry, 

Who went out to protect the United States border, 
Fought valiantly, 

Without fear or disorder. 



And the Tenth Cavalry, who made an onslaught 

Up San Juan Hill, 
Rallied around the flag and fought 

Until many foes were killed. 

Do not let injustice crush 

Your ambition and rights, 
But trust in the Lord, as you rush 

Under the. stars and stripes. 

The Negro has a right 

To cheer and brag, 
Because he helped to fight 

For the United States flag. 

He saw men dying on the field 

For this country 
Before the government would shield 

His rights, or set him free. 

To-day he's deprived of his rights 

In some States, 
But is he not loyal to the stars and stripes 

Regardless of his fate? 



180 



ARE WE LOYAL TO THE STARS AND STRIPES? 

Did he stop marching on the account of snares, 

Or because the way was dim? 
The soldier should be commended 

For his noble work and vim. 

No, he pressed forward 

For a higher life, 
To better the condition of himself, 

His children, and his wife. 




REV. J. W. McKINNEY, 

Grand Master of the Sovereign Most Worshipful Grand 

Lodge of F. and A. M. in Texas; Pastor of Evening 

Chapel C. M. E. Church, Dallas, Tex. 

I am forced to admit 

That lie lias lost many opportunities, 
For he could have done better 

In the differenl (owns and communities. 



ARE WE LOYAL TO THE STARS AND STRIPES? 



181 



However, lie should be commended 
For. the noble work he's done; 

Because he went out on the field 
And the glorious victory won. 






**=*& 




::■': . . 








wmm 



REV. Z. T. PARDEE, DALLAS, TEXAS. 
Pioneer Bapti-t Minister, Traveling Agenl of the Dallas 

Express. 



182 WHAT A WONDERP^UL PROGRESS! 

WHAT A WONDERFUL PROGRESS ! 

What a wonderful progress the Negro has made 

Since eighten sixty-five ! 
But he's had to struggle against adversity, 

And learn how to contrive. 
He has not always been compatible; 

He has often suffered defeat. 
Who can say he is futile, 

When freedom says he's been fleet ? 

I 

Who can say his progress is due 

To trickery and pelf? 
Through opposition he's pulling clown barriers 

And making a way for himself. 
He has achieved very much 

Since freed from slavery's band, 
For he owns over $900,000,000 worth of property, 

And many thousand acres of land. 

The home life of the Negro 

Is much better than it used to be, 
And in many instances 

Wealth has taken the place of poverty. 
He has made a wonderful growth 

In many lines; 
He not only has comfortable homes, 

But many beautiful shrines. 

Look at his humble beginning 

A few years ago, 
When he came out as a citizen, 

Homeless, ragged and poor. 
Ignorant, uneasy and friendless, 

He left his master's home, 
And went out in this world 

To suffer, struggle and roam. 

He has been gradually pulling loose 

From obstacles that have tried to hold him. 



WHAT A WONDERFUL PROGRESS! 183 

For he's had enough drawbacks 

To discourage any one. 
The Negro doctor knows what to prescribe 

To aire the aches and pain. 
And the editor tells us 

That the day of progress is at hand, 
And brainy, competent Negroes 

Are in great demand. 

Now when we look up the line of progress, 

Who do we see? 
We see different travelers on the road 

Though not of the same degree. 
There are lawyers, business men, laborers, 

And people of. another profession, 
Marching steadily onward 

In the progression. 

The preacher has done much 

To help lift the race, 
By- teaching it how to rise 

And take its place. 
The teacher has achieved much 

Towards training the minds to think; 
He has lead thousands to the fountain of wisdom, 

And taught them how to drink. 

They are moving out of huts into cottages, 

And becoming intellectually strong. 
Hence, if their gait was faster, 

It would not be verv loner 
Before they could hoist their flags 

Of progress over this land, ' 

TheB stand up in the name of Jesus, 

And for rmmanitv jusl ice demand. 



184 AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION. 

"AN OUNCE OF PEEVENTION WOETH A 

POUND OF CURE." 
When I was a child 

I heard the sentence o'er and o'er, 
That, "An ounce of prevention 

Is worth a pound of cure." 

And this old adage 

Is very true, 
For if you use the prevention 

That will do. 

If the ounce of prevention 

Had been used for the race, 
'Two aid not require so much medicine 

For the case. 

But as it is, 

It needs the pound of cure 
To dense its system 

And health restore. 

However, if it uses 

The ounce of prevention in time, 
It can save its children 

Many a dime. 

And if the ounce of prevention 
• Is used by the government, 
It can save itself 
Many a cent. 

If the ounce of prevention 

Is used by the State, 
Its inhabitants 

Will not retrograte. 

And if the ounce of prevention 
Is used by the country, 



AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION. 185 

'Twill not need the pound of cure 
For prosperity. 

If you take a dose of medicine 

When you first feel ill, 
More than likely 

'Twill save a doctor's bill. 

Sometimes an ounce of prevention 

Will save one's life, 
But by waiting 

The pound of cure will not suffice. 

One should evade little things 

If he wishes to prevent 
The things that causes illness 

And disturbment. 

Thwart evil in its pathway 

So it will not annoy 
Your minds, and livi s, 

Nor your health destroy. 

Be economical, industrious, 

And do not waste. 
Grasp the opportunities afforded ; 
And make haste ! 

The time has come 
For you to discern 
The things that's leading you 

To destruction and ruin. 



All who are old enough 
To have an apprehension, 

Should he wise enough 
To take an ounce of prevention. 



186 AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION. 

Do not wait 

Until you become so ill 
That you'll be compelled to have 

A prescription filled. 

But you who have waited 

Take the pound of cure, 
So that pains and misfortunes 

You'll not have to endure. 



Do not squander 

Away your time. 
And be very careful 

How you spend a dime. 

If you let your property 

Become devastated by lying unused, 
'Twill require quite a sum 

To have it renewed. 

Be economical, careful, 

And do not waste, 
For it will require a pound of cure 

To replace. 

If you use the ounce of prevention 

'Twill be cheaper than using the remedy 

To restore you to health 
And prosperity. 

Economy and intellect will help 

You accumulate, 
To be wise, useful, 

Wealthy and great. 



AN ALL AROUND FAILURE. 187 

AN ALL ABOUND FAILUEE. 

A mortal and an immortal failure is what I call an all around failure. 

Now I shall not consume much time on this subject, as most of you 
are aware of the direction and the things that lie in the pathway of the 
road that leads to it. 

However, I will say that a neglect of the principles that lead to 
success will assure you of failure. 

Sometimes the gifted and talented fail to succeed 

Because to these principles they will not take heed ; 

And sometimes they fail and are kept in a strain 

By helping the unworthy gain. 

Though they fail in life they've no excuse for not being blessed 

With immortal success. 

As there are so many things in life to endure, 

There's an excuse for mortal failure. 

God, thou who hast taught 

Man what he ought 

To do, help him to plan, 

Understand and see, 

Before he puts on immortality. 




188 SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 

SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 

Look at success, merry and glad ! 

I am sure she doesn't look sad, 

For she has opulence at her command, 

And a comfortable home furnished grand. 

But I wonder if she's pure and good, 

And does her duty as she should. 

Does she trust in God, and him alone, 
And follow Christ, his only Son ? 
Or is she trusting money and land? 
Has she built her house upon the sand? 
Has she risked her soul by gaining wealth, 
Which can be taken from her by stealth? 

Now look at Failure, weary and sad ! 
She hasn't many comforts to make her glad. 
How pale and serene her" face ! 
But on it is not written disgrace. 
However, she has toiled and sacrificed, 
In order to live an honest life. 

But doing the will of God aright, 

Is this poor woman's chief delight. 

She walks uprightly from day to day, 

And she never fails to pray. 

On the Sabbath day she goes to church, 

For she enjoys the services very much. 

She has labored very hard to live, 
But her church dues she is willing to give. 
Though ofttimes her heart is vexed in pain. 
Because the comforts of life are hard to gain. 
But because she does not partake in wickedness, 
The wicked laugh at her distress. 

However, she continues to plod, 
In the pathway that loads to God, 
Believing that he will her friend bp, 



SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 



189 



Through troubles, trials and poverty. 
Hence she is willing to- follow him, 
Who came and died on the account of sin. 
Success spreads like a green bay tree, 
Whilst Failure dwells in poverty. 




REV. W. M. CONNOR, D. D. f 
Pastor of the Olive Branch Baptist Church, Paris, Texas. 



190 SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 

Success seldom goes to church, 

But in societies delighteth much. 

She goes to resorts for pleasure, or for health, 

And finds different ways to use her wealth. 

In adding to her comforts here 
, She does not attempt to steer 

Her boat towards the eternal city, 
But she's steering downward ; what a pity ! 
Though wealthy, she should steer heavenward, 
Do her duty, and serve the Lord. 

People often call a good old Christian Failure, 

Because she's afflicted or poor. 

But when people have health, 

Together with wealth, 

Most people call them success, 

Matters not how they glory in wickedness. 

But when they die, 

Friends stand around the bed and cry; 
And wonder if their hearts were made clean, 
Before they crossed the chilly stream. 
Now if the successful here would act wise 
They'd lay up their treasures beyond the skies. 

I think, the sinner is Failure, 

Matters not whether she's rich or poor. 

And success should be the Christian's name, 

Matters not whether she's rich, poor, blind or lame. 

For only the pure, can enjoy and behold, 

The city whose streets are paved with gold. 

When these two women died, 

The one of humbleness, and the one of pride, 

There was quite a contrast in the shrouds, 

There was quite a contrast in the crowds, 

And there was also a contrast in the burial plots, 

For one was grassy, and the other was not. 



SUCCESS AS FAILURE. AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 

When Success died 

Many people moaned and cried, 

Friends made her a beautiful gown, 

With ribbons and laces all around, 

They got the finest casket in the undertaker's shop, 

And for her vault, a beautiful plot. 



191 




REV. W. E. ADAMS, 
Taylor, Texas. 
Pastor of the A. M. E. Church. 

They selected a spot that was green and shady, 

For this rich and noble lady. 

They got the hearse and carriages, too, 

For this woman was well-to-do. 

And a long procession followed her to the grave, 

But didn't have power her soul to save. 

Some said it was such a pity, 

For one to die so rich and witty, 

When young, rich and happy, too, 

And companions wonderod what they'd do; 

For her words were spice in their conversations, 

And they looked upon her with admiration. 



192 SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 

Poor Failure lingered many days, 
However, she did not fail to praise 
Him who saves the pure in heart. 
This true friend did not depart 
From her whilst in the hours of pain, 
But did by her bedside remain. 

Finally she passed away 

With Christ; to that beautiful land to stay. 

Where no clouds of adversity hang around the door 

Of the humble and the poor. 

There is no poverty, pains or sorrow there, 

But it's always bright and fair. 

Poor Failure was buried in a coffin rough, 
Some said that she was better off. 
They put her on a plain white gown 
With no ribbons and laces around. 
She was carried to the grave in a hack ; 
Some followed in wagons and some horseback. 

Failure and Success arrived at heaven's gate, 
And stood before the Judge to inquire their fate. 
Success carried a paper edged with gold, but blank ; 
Failure carried a check on heaven's bank ; 
So the God that discerns right from wrong 
Gave Failure an entrance to his throne. 

Though Success stood at the door and knocked, 

He said, "Depart from me, I know you not ; 

In 3'onder's world you were ashamed 

To honor and jjraise my holy name." 

So she was sent to a place of punishment, 

Because in earthly pleasures her time was spent. 

So Success, whom earthly treasure? did win, 

Failed to have an entrance in 

The land of joy and bliss. 

Though Failure did miss 

The comforts and pleasures here below, 

But she'll never suffer any more. 






SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 



193 



Success should be the name of the good and pure, 
But the sinful should be called Failure. 
After these women had put on immortality, 
To exchange names they did agree. 
So in yonder's world each proclaim 
To be called by the other's name. 

So Failure is called Success, 

Because she gained eternal happiness, 

And Success is called Failure. Don't you see, 




MR. S. W. J. LOWERY, 

The Popular Caterer of Texas, Now in 

St. Louis, Mo., in the Firm, 

.Mason & Lowery. 

She has gained eternal misery ? 

Set not your hearts on treasures here below, 

For they only bring on misery and woe. 

Once Lazarus laid at the gate 

Of a certain man who was rich and great. 

Poor Lazarus begged for mimbs that fell from the table 

Of this man who was able 

To not only give crumbs, but to feed 

This poor man, who was in nned. 



194 SUCCESS AS FAILURE, AND FAILURE AS SUCCESS. 

Lazarus was good, but poor, 
Hence, in his world he was Failure, 
But in heaven he was a successful man 
And rested in the bosom of Abraham; 
There he was free from pains, comforted, 
And did not have to beg for bread. 

But this rich man lay full of pains, 

Thirsty and tormented in flames, 

Because in the wrong pathway he had trod, 

Serving mammon, instead of God. 

He would not obey the prophet's voice, 

And the wrong way, made his choice. 

But honor and praise the God of love, 

And set your affections on things above. 

If Success here wants to keep her name, 

She must the laws of God sustain. 

And poor old Failure must always be good, 

To fail here, and above too, she cannot afford. 

If that rich man could warn his brothers here, 

He would tell them not to steer 

Their boats towards torment, 

But to repent, 

And serve the God of love, 

And lay up their treasures in heaven above. 




AN ALL AROUND SUCCESS. 195 

AN ALL AROUND SUCCESS. 

A mortal and an immortal success is what I call an all around success. 

I shall not attempt to picture a road in which the travelers are 
successful in everything, however, I shall endeavor to picture one that 
has been traveled by those who have gone courageously onward to 

prosperity. 

Usually the successful man is the one who selects a profession, sticks 
to it, attends to his business, thinks for himself, gives attention to little 
things, works persistently, has courage to start and faith, believing that 
he will succeed, trusts in the Lord, places his feet in the middle of the 
road, leans neither to the right nor left, but keeps straight ahead, re- 
gardless of the little failures in his pathway. 

The one that follows the above principles is the one that outstrips 
those around them. 

The successful man is methodical, for method is one of the essentials 
to success ; and if the right thing is done at the right time, it saves time 
and friction. 

And punctuality is another essential of success. Time should be 
properly used, for when it's lost it's never regained. 

Sometimes one fails in life 

By struggling against competition, diseases, envy and strife; 

But for an immortal failure no one can produce 

A reasonable excuse. 

The all around successful man 

Is the one that wisely plans 

For this life and the one to come, 

For this and the other home. 

He gains mortal and immortal happiness 

And an all around success. 






196 



THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 



THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 



m il i 




By Miss Cclestine Grantt, B. S., Bryan, Texas. 

Progress has its root in history. Great forces pour into the present, 
receiving their impulses from times and conditions more remote. Our 
civilization, its breadth of culture and wealth of invention is heir to th& 
genius of the past which affords us thought and inspiration for the pres- 
ent and future. 

Tracing these, we find them under the influence of Christian educa- 
tion. 

Nothing presented itself more forcibly to the mind than the dawn of 
the Christian era. With it came new inspiration, the environments were 
different and those present had various experiences which continue until 
to-day. 



THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 197 

When the Messiah sojourned upon earth, His examples of purity 
were presented in a manner so simple until the most illiterate could 
comprehend and the wise could readily understand. 

Upon one occasion while exhorting to His disciples, He impressed 
them to ''Seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things will be 
added." Perusing further, he instructs us to „Study the Scriptures, for 
in them do you find eternal life." 

Noting the progress of successful individuals, we find that their 
success is measured by the amount of interest developed in perusing the 
Holy Volume. Nicodemus, the ruler, who was so anxious for eternal 
life; the eunuch, who conversed with Phillip; Paul, the great perse- 
cutor of Christians and afterward a powerful advocate of Christianity, 
also many others, were constant readers of the Bible, and their success 
was dependent upon the adherence to the truths found therein. 

Without religion, intelligence and morality, life would degenerate 
and cease to be worth living. Some one has asked, Why do nations die? 
Greece with her culture died; Eome with her conquering powers died; 
the Vandals, Huns and the Moors are dead or dying. Why ? Were they 
overpowered by mightier nations ? Were they swept away by pestilence ? 
Nay; they perished by reason of their religious negligence and moral 
degradation, the immediate results of intemperance; then God in His 
wise providence allowed the radical change to ensue. 

Under the influence of Christian education we find ourselves ad- 
vancing in civilization and becoming more enlightened. 

Contrasting this land under Christian influences with that which is 
not, we find that ours excels in every respect. 

How essential is this training to humanity! Accompanying it are 
the avenues for enjoying life in a more comfortable manner. 

Noticing this influence at the home, the school and the church, we 
find that at home the individual possesses a special reverence for the Su- 
preme Ruler and executes the same by dutifully attending to the dif- 
ferent religious services and practicing the Golden Pule, "Do unto others 
as you would have them do unto you." In this home we find thai peace 
and pleasure reigns supreme; then love is duty and right is law. 

Tracing this influence to the school room we find instructors endeav- 
oring to implant such principles in the minds of the pupils as will serve 
as a platform upon which to build an uprighl life thai will refleel credit 
upon the parent instructors and the race. 

From tin- church we receive such information n? will enable each in- 



198 



THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 



dividual to execute the mission designed for man to accomplish. This 
mission is embodied in three distinct lessons, viz. : (1) Love to God; (2) 
Love to man; (3) Love to ourself. 

Under the first division the special duty we owe our Moral Governor 




HON. AMMON S. WELL, 

Attorney-at-Law, Grand Legal Adviser of the Knights 

of Pythias, Delegate to the National Republican 

Convention, 1904, Held at Chicago, 111. 

is to love Him supremely, obey His commandments and execute such acts 
as we can conscientiously render as right. 

The second division, love to man, endeavors to incite us to perform 
such duties as we would consider right and would have rendered to us if 
we were in similar circumstances. 

The third division, although personal, yet it does not encourage self- 



THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 199 

ishness, but places upon us the responsibility of self-preservation where- 
by we may be able to execute our mission. 

We believe that a neglect of Christian education would have a ten- 
dency to impair or wreck the present and future life of an individual. 

If more importance was placed upon this special training the danger- 
ous element in the community would be seen and the change would result 
in transferring them from the restless citizen to one of harmony; then 
his every movement would mark distinctly the intellectual qualification 
and in return they would be imparted to some individual, thereby giving 
new inspiration to life. 

The following quotation conveys the idea in this instance: 

\ 
"Sow a thought, we reap an act; 

Sow an act, we reap a habit; 

Sow a habit, we reap a character; 

Sow a character, we reap a destiny." 

For the reason of the influence which we possess over others and for 
our personal advantage, we should guard our thoughts, acts, habits and 
character, for in them are determined our destiny. 

Observing the cause and effect of things, we decide that if this 
special training were reversed, that our prosperity would be retarded, 
civilization retrograded and humanity would be in a deplorable condi- 
tion. Nothing would confront us but destruction, and life would be 
a failure. 

Under theinfluence of Christian education we assist in civilization, 
encourage business enterprise, and in many instances prevent crime, 
thereby robbing the almshouses and prisons of their expected inmates. 

Then it behooves us to take advantage of every opportunity to do 
good. 

We can readily see the influence of Christian education, and agree 
that this influence is unlimited; it is so lofty until we can not surmount 
it, so broad we can not compass it, and so deep until we can not fathom 
it. 

We can only agree with the poet: 

"Cod movi !8 in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform ; 
He plants His footsteps on the sea, 
And rides upon the storm." 



200 



COME ALL THE WORLD. 

COME ALL THE WOKLD. 
Come all the world and serve the Lord, 

Bow humbly at his feet; 
Eeceive his love, and worship him, 

His blessings are so sweet. 

Follow him where he leadeth, 

Don't tarry on the way ; 
But when you get hungry and weak, 

Eall on your knees and pray. 

The very moment you have faith, 

What you ask for is given ; 
With vigor and strength you can arise, 

And journey on to heaven. 

Come all the world and choose that friend, 
Who can teach you how to row 

Across the billowy waves of time 
To the peaceful, happy shore. 

Come all the world and work for Christ, 

And you'll receive your pay ; 
For he will employ every one 

Who will his laws obey. 

Come all the world and go to school 

To the Holy Teacher above, 
Who can pour wisdom in your soul, 

And fill your heart with love. 

He'll teach the young everything 

That they should know; 
He'll also teach the aged, 

Whose heads are white like snow. 

Come all the world and let the spirit 

Enter your hearts of sin; 
Drive out all malice, pride and hate, 

And make them clean within. 



COME ALLL THE WORLD. 201 



When the blessings flow, 

Then you'll feel 
Like serving him; who can. 

Through faith, all things reveal. 

Come all the world and worship Christ ; 

Praise him for blessing given; 
Thank him for dying on the cross 

To give you a home in heaven. 

Ask him to do his will, not yours, 
In assigning you work to do, 

And to let your soul take a flight to him 
When you bid this world adieu. 

Come all the world, 'tis Christ's desire 

For you to be at the feast; 
An invitation was sent to you 

At the request of the Priest. 

But if you don't accept it, 

You shall bear your awful doom, 

And dwell with demons in a pit of fire, 
Be it late or soon. 

Come all the world and prepare yourselves 
To appear at the judgment bar; 

You must give an account of all your .ins, 
When you reach the gates ajar. 

But if yon fail to accept him. 

Or if you prove untrue, 
All of your pleasures will lie over 

When yon hi, I | his world adieu. 

Come all the world, come sinners ihou, 

And choose the perfect wa\ ; 
Depart from wicked, evil dd rs, 

And the laws of God obey. 



202 



COME ALL THE WORLD. 

Come all who are heavy laden 

And he will give you rest 
If you learn of him ; he'll bear your burdens, 

And comfort you when distressed. 

Come all who are forsaken, 
He'll be to you a friend ; 
When troubles and trials press you 
You can on him depend. 

Come all that's broken hearted ; 

He'll heal up every wound, 
For his mercy of grace and love 

Will make it pure and sound. 

Come all that's bowed in trouble; 

He'll make you stand erect; 
He'll subdue your enemies under you, 

And will your souls protect. 




REV. A. L. HANDLEY, 
The Energetic Pastor of the A. M. 
Church, Tyler, Texas. 



E. 



NEGRO ENTERPRISES. 

NEGRO ENTERPRISES. 
We have quite a number running enterprises, 
But very few Negroes patronizes 
Them as they should. 
But do you not think that we would 
Be stronger as a race 
If we would encourage an enterprise 
And each other patronize? 



203 




MISS SUSIE COLEMAN. 
An expert with the needle and cis- 
sors, demonstrating the possibility of 
being useful, and using well her ad- 
vantages in the art as a seamstress. 

This feature others would detect 
And look upon us with more respect. 



Some sing this song, 

That Negro enterprises doesn't last long. 

But if you would pay them what you owe 



204 NEGRO ENTERPRISES. 

In only a few cases, 'twould be so. 

Is this not true? 

As long as some can get things on credit they praise 

The Negro's goods, and his ways; 

But when he wants his money, they scandalize 

The Negro's enterprise. 

I believe in patronizing others, too, 

But do you 

Not think it true and just 

To patronize each other; and must 

We not do this to help the race? 

What are we educating our children for? 

To be an enterprising people, or 

A class that's unwilling to engage in labor, 

And try to pull down an enterprising neighbor? 

We must be careful about the seed we sow, 

For we are liable to reap the fruit at our door. 

Then encourage every effort for right 

And your good deeds will incite 

Your children to engage in labor 

Instead of working all day 

On a poor farm without pay. 

Engage in labor yourselves, and cheer others, too, 

By your patronage and them patronizing you. 

He says give me justice, but you understand, 

You must give better satisfaction than the other man 

If you want his trade and money, 

For sometimes he's very funny, 

IF you want him to trade with you, 

And you must be very polite, 

Or else he will say you are not treating him right. 



OUR GUIDING STAR. 205 

. OUR GUIDING STAR. 

Thou art our star, our guiding star. 

Thou Lightest up our way; 
We see thy radiance from afar 

When we thy laws obey. 

Thou art our star, our guiding star; 

Thou art our hope and light; 
We can see thy radiance from afar, 

Though it be night. 

Thou art our star, our guiding star, 

And a light to our pathway ; 
Though thy home is afar, 

Thou art with us when we pray. 

Thou art the star, the only star 

That shineth brighter than day, 
And if we follow thee, thou 

Wilt show us the only true way. 

# Thou art the star whose beaming rays 

Shed blessings in my soul, 
And sometimes when I praise 

Thy name, myself I can't control. 

Thou art the star that will lead us home 

When we bid this world adieu; 
Thou art the star that'll bid us come 

In when with troubles we are through. 



Thou art the star of Bethlehem 
That died upon the cross; 

Thou didsi die for sinful man, 
So that he may not be lost. 

Thou ari the star, the wounded star. 

W<> saw thy bleeding side. 
And a thorny crown upon thy brow, 

When thou on Calvary died. 



206 OUR GUIDING STAR. 

Thou art the star, the heavenly star; 

We see thee on the throne; 
And at thy footstool humbly bow, 

And claim thee as our own. 

Thou art the star, the peaceful star 

That calmest every fear; 
When we see the raging storm afar 

We know that thou art near. 

Thou art the star, the only star 
That is this dark race's light 

In storms, and always knowest who we are 
Though we be black as night. 

Then let us follow our guiding star 
And go with him where he leads, 

Though the promised land be afar, 
He will supply our needs. 

Then let us follow our guiding star 
To Canaan's happy shore, 
And when we pass through the gates ajar 
We can sing, troubles o'er. 







SOLDIERS FOR GOD, HAPPINESS. 207 

SOLDIERS FOR GOD. 

Have you enlisted in the army of the Lord? 

Are you and Him of the same accord? 

Yes, our opinion of the battle is the same, 

And we shall fight until we the victory gain. 

We are fighting under a banner that's blood-stained; 

However the victory will be gained, 

For a battle never was lost by Him 

Who suffered, toiled and died on the account of sin. 

We are fighting under a Captain that can save, 

For He conquered death, hell and the grave. 

What wondrous things he hath done ! 

That Captain is Christ, God's only Son. 

We will follow Him to battle, though we must die 

To reach that peaceful abode on high, 

But what is death to those who are saved by grace 

And go from this to a better place? 

One of the peculiarities about this battle for right, 
Women and children go out and fight, 
And sometimes they are more valiant than men 
After they enlist in the army to fight against sin. 
Put on the helmet, armor, sword and shield, 
And go out to fight in the battlefield. 
Look at the banner waving in the breeze, 
Representing the King of Heaven, the land and the seas. 



HAPPINESS. 

Happiness is one of the chief characteristics of the race 

Regardless of its condition or case. 

One may be stigmatized, crushed and oppressed, 

Yet he travels on in happiness. 

Happy? Yes' he's usually happy and jolly, 
In poverty, prosperity, work or folly. 



208 



HAPPINESS. 



If his habitation is a cottage, cabin, hut or cot, 
He's usually contented with his lot. 

It matters not how he's distressed, or what betides 

One seldom commits suicide; 

But will act like some good old saint 

When bearing a trouble, trial or complaint. 




MISS LEOMA ROWAN. 
The first young lady to show the 
highly cultured taste of the race in a 
complete millinery store for Dallas 
operated by her deft fingers and busi- 
ness capacity, now at 26G-2G8 Juliet 
Street. 



I sometimes think he should change his volition 
Of being so happy under the present condition; 
Become more serious about his situation, 
And struggle harder for elevation. 



ONE BY ONE. 209 

ONE BY ONE. 

One by one they're coerced in 
To this world of sorrow and sin. 
One is successfull and one is not, 
Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one they entered this life 
To struggle with its battles and strife. 
One is industrious and one is not. 
Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one they go to school, 

One becomes wise, the other remains a fool. 

One is educated and one is not, 

Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one in society they are numebred ; 

One sits idle, the other with positions encumbered; 

One is honored and one is not, 

Hence, each has a different lot. 



One by one they go through the street; 
One is greeted by acquaintance they meet, 
And one is not, 
Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one to church they go ; 
One is changed, but lo ! 
The other is not, 
Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one they commit a crime; 
One gets a trial, but the other hasn't time; 
One is e.xhonorated, and one is not, 
Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one with diseases they lie; 
Friends think that both will die, 
But one will get well, and one will not, 
Hence, each has a different lot. 



210 



ONE BY ONE. 



One by one they leave family and friends ; 

One goes to rest, and one where punishment never ends. 

One dies contented and one does not, 

Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one they droop and die, 
And leave relatives and friends who cry ; 
One is better off, and one is not, 
Hence, each has a different lot. 

One by one they are placed in the ground, 

Neither knows his neighbor, nor can he hear a sound. 

But one is saved and the other is not, 

Hence, each has a different lot. 



One by one they turn to clay, 
To remain, until judgment day, 
At which time they will arise 
And go beyond the skies. 

Then they will stand on doom's day 
And hear the Judge say 
To one, "Depart from me I know you not." 
But to one, eternal life he will allot. 









UNITY. 211 



UNITY. 
If a people would successful be 

Together they must stand; 
Not in the wrong, 

But in the right they should band 
Themselves as one great force 

For justice, honor and peace. 
Then some of the noise about failure 

Would cease. 

You must inwardly resolve to be 

A strong united band, 
And you must inwardly resolve, 

To obey God's command. 
Unity in the right makes a people 

Powerful and strong, 
For God can enable them 

To stand before any throng:. 

Crush the wrong with your foot, 

And firmly stand for right. 
Turn your back on Satan, 

And trust in the God of might ; 
He will help you to rise 

To an exalted place in life, 
Where you'll not be overpowered 

By malice, envy or strife. 

Stand together, firmly stantl, 

And battle against wrong. 
Live pure, do your duty, 

And it will not be long- 
Before what you've wished for 

Will be in reach; then you can praise 
The God of heaven and earth 

In many ways. 

You can praise Him in actions, thoughts, words 

And with the heart; 
Then you can be under his protection 



212 



UNITY. 

And share a part 
In his blessings, mercy and iove. 

Though oppressed with grief, burdens and care, 
If honest, pure and right, 

You need not despair. 

Be true to each other, to yourselves, 

And God. 
Turn neither to the right nor left, 







MISS HATTIE MAE INGRAHAM, 

Graduate of Dallas High School and 

Musical Directress, Chicago, 111. 

But continue to plod 
In the middle of the road, for it has an end. 

It will lead you to happiness and rest, 
And to a place or peace, 

Where all are blest. 

Did you ever see a people 

Who weren't united, last long? 
Did you ever see a people continue to prosper 



UNITY. 213 

Who were wrong, 
And boasted in wickedness? 

Did you ever discern 
A road with no end, 

Or a lane with no turn? 

No. Then you may expect a change, 

Labor, work and pray, 
Be of good cheer; do your duty, 

And wait for a better day, 
For the time will come, wait patiently, 

When the righteous and united shall prosper. But all 
The nations, who are divided 

And wrong, shall fall. 

What a weak nation without unity! 

Where is their strength and power? 
They can not stand before the foe, 

They may fall at any hour. 
What a strong nation ! 

When it is united, stands firm for right, 
And puts its trust 

In the God of might! 




9.14 THE SHEEP AND GOATS. 

THE SHEEP AND GOATS. 

In that great judgment day 

When all nations meet each other, 

The Shepherd will place the sheep on the right 
And the goats on the left, regardless of color. 

The Lamb will look 

On his right and say, 
Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you 

Throughout eternal day. 

"When I was sick 
Ye visited me, 
So eternal life 
Fll give to thee." 

Then He will look on the left 

At the goats, the cursed, 
Who gave Him no water 

When he didst thirst, 

And say, "Depart into 

Everlasting punishment." 
Hence throughout eternity 

Their time must be spent. 

The lambs, though feeble, 

Are not neglected, 
But are fed, clothed 

And protected. 

When the lambs and sheep 

Do their duty 
They behold the scenes 
Of pastoral beauty. 

He watches over them 

When asleep they lie, 
With a shepherd's 

Watchful eye. 






A PRAYER. 215 



The Shepherd tenderly guards 

His sheep, 
And gives them living bread 

To eat. 

And they may drink 

From the still waters that sweep 
Through the green pastures 

For the sheep. 

The Shepherd's ever ready 

To comfort and console 
Those who've been washed 

And made whole. 

Hence, It should be the soul's 

Chief delight 
To glory in the God 

Of love and might. 



A PEAYEE. 
God, the God of truth and love, 
Send down more blessings from above. 
Grant that I may be more like unto Thee 
And that my heart may purer be. 
God, Thou art my refuge and light, 
To do Thy will is my delight, 
But when temptations assail my heart 
Often from Thy ways I depart. 
But hear my prayer, 
Move back every cloud and care . 
And hide me, my Savior, hide 
Me where I can in Thee abide. 
Help me to be faithful and more meek, 
And make me strong where I am weak. 
Lord, teach me how to pray, 
And how to walk in the narrow way; 



216 A PRAYER. 

Increase my zeal as I go 

To love Thee better, and serve Thee more; 

For I come to Thee with a penitent heart; 

Please do not from me depart. 

Give me a strong desire to live for Thee, 

And also a desire to flee 

From everything that has a tendency to keep me 

From following Thee. 

I know that I ought 

Not to cherish an unholy thought. 

Then may I never treasure 

In my heart a wordly pleasure 

That will turn your face from me, 

Or divert my thoughts from Thee. 

When this restless life is o'er 

Land me safe on the other shore. 

Then shall I have peace and rest 

With the pure and the blest, 

Where I can praise Thee forever and ever 

There I shall be happy and never 

Suffer, complain, weep, or sigh, 

For after I die 

I shall go with Thee to live above 

In that land of love. 

Hear this prayer I pray, 

And help me to perform my duty, day by day. 




THE SINNER. 217 

THE SINNER. 

Sinner, why art thou so willing 
To sin from day to day ? 

Do you not know that Christ is grieved? 
Do you not know that the saint's are bereaved 
To see you are filling 

Hell, and are going there to stay ? 

Did you know that every hour 
Eushes you into despair? 

You are throwing away your time in sin; 
But wouldn't you like to win 
The love of God, and his power, 
And go to the land that's fair? 

'Tis true that you are tempted 
To continue in the path of vice. 
But can you not resist the sin 
That's trying so hard your soul to win? 
Are you really contented 

By selling your soul at such a price? 

Do you not know that heaven's 
Prepared for yon, 

And is arrayed in splendor and beauty? 
If you will but do your duty 
You can rest in that beautiful haven 
An enjoy peace and pleasures, too. 

Suddenly disease will come 
And slip upon your frame. 
It will confine to your bed, 
Until all will see that vou are dead. 
Then they'll leave you in the tomb 

To turn to dust, from whence you came. 



that all? No 
our soul will 
To a land unknown 



Your soul will have to go 



218 



THE SINNER. 



And will also be thrown 
Into a pit of fire and brimstone, 
And you will cry, "Woe! Woe! 

Unto me that I was born to die 
And go to a place like this; 

I wish I had obeyed Christ's voice; 
I wish I had made heaven my choice ; 
Then I would not have to lie 

In flames, and eternal happiness miss." 







MISS SADIE DELLA HAMILTON, 

Van Wert, Ohio, 
Graduate of Wilberforce A. M. E. Uni- 
versity, Xenia, Ohio. Principal White 
Rock Public School, Grayson Coun- 
ty, Texas. 



THE PRODIGAL'S PRAYER. 



219 



THE PRODIGAL'S PRAYER. 

Heavenly Father, I went astray 

Into fields far, far away. 

Hence, I feel unworthy to be called thy child, 

Because thou art so good and mild. 

But now I come back to Thee, 




MRS. OSCAR THOMPSON, DENISON, 
TEXAS, 

A teacher, expert with the needle in 
fancy work, Doilering and Batten- 
berg, awarded several pre- 
miums by the Texas State 
Fair. 

So let thy mercy rest upon me; 

Teach me how to watch and pray, 

And how to walk in the narrow way. 

Increase my zeal as I go, 

To not turn back any more. 

Now please do not from me depart, 

For I come to Thee with a penitent heart; 



220 SPRING. 

f 

I know that I've been mean, 
But purge, wash and make me clean. 
I know that I've been sinful and wild, 
But will you not take back your child? 
I know that I am filthy and poor, 
But will you turn me from your door? 
If you'll let me live with Thee, 
I will an humble servant be. 
Hear this humble prayer, I pray, 
And I'll never again go astray. 



SPKING. 



Come, sweet spring; come with your showers; 
Come with warmth and laden bowers. 
We love your season best of all — 
Better than summer, winter or fall. 

Come on! Winter will have to go, 
With his cold wind, rain, ice and snow. 
Our feet are cold, our backs are bare- 



0, come, dear Spring! We need your care. 

Spread Nature's lessons on your chart, 

Then teach every mind and heart 

To see God on the land, the seas, 

The plants, the air, the clouds, and breeze. 

Wake up, sweet Spring, and sing once more, 
Let your sweet bells chime as of your, 
And the concert of sweet sounds ring, 
Loudly and clearly, it is Spring. 

Sleep no more until music is heard 
From the land, the water, the air and bird; 
Let your vocal sparks warm the earth, 
And to dead plants whisper a new birth. 

Let Nature do her part once more, 
By spreading flowers at the door, 
By chasing winter's gloom away, 
By doing things to make us gay. 



SPRING. 221 



Come on, sweet Spring — the trees are bare; 
They need your rain, your warmth and care; 
And we need their ripe fruit so sweet — 
We are longing for some to eat. 

Come on. sweet Spring — do not delay — 
With your soft, sweet breezes, one day; 
Bring an odor from your flowers 
And sweet scent from laden bowers. 

In your cradle lull us to sleep, 
There Ave will not worry nor weep 
About Winters hardships and frost, 
Xor about what his visits cost. 

We invite you again, dear Spring, 
With your sunshine, warmth and rain; 
Earth's thirsty for Spring rain once more, 
And everything wants to grow. 

Please accept our invitation ; 
If not, we'll die from starvation, 
Or we'll surely die from grief, 
If you don't come to our relief. 




222 



PUBLISHER'S OUTLINES OF DR. JACKSON. 




REV. ALEXANDER S. JACKSON, D. D. 

The subject of this sketch was horn in Georgia, May 4th, 1858, of 
Rev. Andrew and Charlotte Jackson, parents who were deeply pious 



PUBLISHERS OUTLINES OF DR. JACKSON. 223 

and were untiring in their efforts to bring up the son in the fear and 
admonition of the Lord. Alexander was early converted and by his 
ministerial father was baptized into fellowship in the Baptist Church 
in the city of Atlanta, of which his. father was pastor. His education, 
which began in the first schools established in the South by Northern 
philanthropists, was completed in the Atlanta University: his study 
of theology began in the Clark Seminary and was later prosecuted in 
the Berean School of Sacred Teaching. While yet a youth he began 
to teach in the public schools of Georgia, and after some years entered 
upon the same work in Mississippi, closing seven years' labor as prin- 
cipal of the leading State school at Jackson, the capital, to accept a call 
to the pastorate of the Tulane Avenue Baptist Church in the city of 
New Orleans, La., where he remained more than eighteen years, devel- 
oping that church into a great power for good in every way in which a 
church can be helpful in the uplift of our people. In the year 1899, 
having been called to the pastorate of New Hope Baptist Church, in the 
city of Dallas, Texas, recognizing it to be the will of God, he resigned 
to come to this responsibility, amid the protests of his New Orleans 
church and the citizens of both races, under a sense of duty to take 
up the Dallas work. After five years' effort this church has fully 
entered upon a new era in its history and will soon enter its new splen- 
did brick house of worship, which is being erected at a cost of about 
$20,000 without incurring a loan-debt. Dr. Jackson led in the reorgan- 
ization of the Baptist State Convention of Louisiana, and was its pres- 
ident for some years, resigning that others might learn the burdens 
and responsibilities of leadership. He was for two years president of 
the National Convention of the Baptist denomination. During the 
World's Exposition at Chicago, he was one of the only two Negroes who 
held membership on the Advisory Council which managed all the relig- 
ious congresses of the Exposition. The white Baptists of the North 
haye on three occasions had him to attend and address them upon the 
religious needs of the race in the South, at their annual meetings in 
Washington, D. C. ; Boston, Mass., and Minneapolis, Minn, respectively. 

Dr. Jackson felt that he owed himself to other spheres of useful- 
ness than that of preaching, and has kept actively in touch with move- 
ments which sought the elevation of the race. For thirteen years he 
was the chairman and executive officer of the board of trustees of 
Leland University at New Orleans, an institution which carries an 
improved property worth $200,000 and an invested endowment of over 



224 PUBLISHER'S OUTLINES OF DR. JACKSON. 

$100,000. His signature in such capacity is attached to the diplomas 
of many of the most promising young men and women of the race in 
the South. Though Dr. Jackson has never had any liking for politics, 
beyond the personal exercise of the franchise, yet under the adminis- 
tration of President Benjamin Harrison, the office sought the man and 
lie was appointed to the office of Receiver of Public Moneys for the city 
of New Orleans, La., being immediately confirmed by the Senate. This 
position he held till several months up into the administration of Pres- 
ident Cleveland, with an allowance of three thousand dollars a year, 
and ended his public career with a resignation, for, having continued 
his pastoral labor while holding the office, and unwilling to retire from 
ministerial work, he found office-holding overburdening him. The 
Department of the Interior complimented him for faithfulness when he 
left the service. During his occupancy he became acquainted with 
many distinguished men in public life. 

Dr. Jackson was first married to Miss Laura Augusta Mason, a 
college-mate in Georgia, of which union there were three children, now 
living, to all of whom he gave completed education in the best univer- 
sities. His first wife being taken to her reward in heaven, the Doctor, 
after two years, married Miss Odalie Alice Morse, a young lady native 
of Few Orleans and a teacher at the time in Leland University, who now 
is his worthy companion in all his labors. Of this union there are two 
promising boys. The Doctor's domestic life has always been as nearly 
ideal as is attainable. 

The Doctorate of Divinity was conferred upon him by the Univer- 
sity of Kentucky in the year 1892 at Louisville. 

He is now just in the prime of all his gifts and deeply attached to 
his work in the leading city of the great commonwealth of Texas, where 
he proposes to remain till New Hope is made an ideal church. 




LET US HOPE. 



225 



Xet Ills Mope. 




Let us hope, righteous workers, and may God be our chief delight 
Let us hope, oh ye people, the skies are more bright, 
Let us hope, let us hope, and behold the radiating light, 



g~« g J* * -J -ir J J J d jT^ 



Though we may be heavy laden, He will make our burdens light 
Hope is bringing joy and gladness, though we've passed a rest- 
less night, 
Lift your eyes christian workers, and see the glorious sight. 




Our path may be dark and stormy, Our way may be cloudy and 

drear. 
Though often enveiled with doubts, we must labor, toil and pray 
Though our path seems darkened by the barriers in the way. 



i 



^^ 



a^ 



And we may be in a sad plight, but we need not fear, 
For if we do our duty and the laws of God obey, 
But if we do right, we will not go astray. 



226 



LET US HOPE. 




For a better time is near. 
He will on our side stay. 
There'll be a brighter day. 



fum 



&2 



Let us hope as we go, hallelujah, Let us work, watch and pray, 

hallelu, 



\L nnnj 1 


\~T°1 


~°1 


J 




T— 1 1 


£■£,-4 ddddd 


j±i 1 




4 4 4 


o 


4 *_M 



We've discovered rays of light, and if we do right Christ will 

our battles fight hallelu. 



Jl° l «Ti 



^ 



Hallelujah, hallelujah, Christ will our battles fight, hallelu. 



-2& 




fif 



SUNDAY BY PROP. J. A. LOVE. 

SUNDAY. 
The day is calm and cool and still. 

The fleecy clouds are drifting slow. 

The morning zephyrs gently blow. 
I hear the cricket sharply shrill, 
Peace and good will, peace and good will. 



227 




PROF. J. AUSTIN LOVE, 

Dallas, Texas, 

Author of "Satire From the South," 

"Leisure Hour Lyrics" and "Lines 

to Lucile." 

The wagons stand high heaped with hay, 
The teams are grazing 'round the bend 
The plows stand idle at the end. 
And all of nature seems to say, 
Remember thou the Sabbath day. 



Eark! from the church across the way, 
Comes echoes of sweet Sabbath bells. 



228 



SUNDAY BY PROF. J. A. LOVE. 

Each peal a sacred story tells, 
Unto my heart they seem to say, 
Kepent and pray, repent and pray. 

A source of joy these chimes afford. 

I see the host assembled there. 

I hear the pastor lead a prayer. 
I see the sexton pull a cord, 
Then comes the echo, praise the Lord. 

Sweet bells, I can't ignore your plea, 

Though to your shrine I cannot come; 
Today I must remain at home, 
But here will I on bended knee, 
Praise God neath my own vine and tree. 

J. A. LOVE. 




MRS. ANNIE A. GREEN, 

Widow of the late Rev. C. R. Green, a devoted A. M. E. Christian worker, and 
has spent her life in the cause of Christ; born in Grayson County, Texas, 
and on marriage went North, where she has been of great use to her race 
teaching Arsene, Needle Work and Hair braiding, to the young women; 
she ranks among our wealthiest women, and has set aside $500 in cash for 
the church in which her membersip is at death. She now resides at 
her Kansas home, Baxter Springs. Kan. 



PUBLISHER'S BRIEF OF DR. D. V. HOOPER. 



229 




DENNIS V. HOOPER, DALLAS. TEXAS. 
Doctor of Pharmacy. 



The above cut is a likeness of our druggist, Mr. Dennis V. Hooper. 
Born in Lake City, Florida, April II. 1878, Mr. Hooper spent the first 
years of his life as most country hoys, roaming over the farm. He came 
to Dallas at the age of thirteen years, securing employment in one of 
the largest retai] drug houses in Texas, where Mr. Hooper remained 
for five consecutive years, when he came to the conclusion thai, he would 
like to attend school. Returning to Florida, he spenl three years in 
study. In L899 Mr. Hooper returned to Dallas and resumed work in 
the drug house where he had formerly been employed. Our young 
druggist re-entered his chosen and favorite studj of pharmacy after 
several hard year- of diligenl study in February, L904, successfully 



230 



COMPLIMENT TO REV. A. TAYLOR. 



passed a creditable examination before the Texas Board of Pharmacy 
and was granted a certificate of registration. On June 15, 1904, Mr. 
Hooper was married to Miss -Alice 1ST. de Jarnette of Montgomery, Ala. 
In August of the same year he opened a drug store of his own at 595 
Elm Street, where Mr. Hooper is doing a prosperous business. 




REV. ABNER TAYLOR, DALLAS, TEXAS. 

Born 1854, in Monroe County, Georgia; prominent 
divine of the Baptist Church. 

Garlands of honor crown his faithful service in moral life 
as a minister, and the business enterprises fostered and suc- 
cessfully operated for the advancement of humanity dem- 
onstrate his nobleness of character. 



BRIEF OUTLINES TO ATTORNEY McCAULEY. 



231 



HON. A. J. McCAULEY. 
The subject of this sketch was born at Tunnel Hill, Whitfield Coun- 
ty, Georgia, in 1861, and attended the public schools of his native town. 
Being one of three dependent children upon a widowed mother, he was 
forced at an early age to quit school and join the ranks of the bread-win- 
ners. Though deprived of further school training, his thirst for knowledge 
made him a diligent student; and so persistenl did ho pursue his studies 
that he is qualified for business life, and lias a remarkable command of 
the English language. In fact, he is more than a match, from a literary 
point, for most of our college bred men. lie has been many years ac- 




A. J. McCAULEY, Dallas, Tex. 
Attorney at Law. 

tively engaged in the newspaper business and is recognized as one of 
the ablest editorial writers of his race. Mr. MoCauley has been an 
active participant in the politics of his State for twenty years, and is 
well and favorably known throughout the State. Tic is one of the 
State's most eloquent public speakers— a forceful and convincing de- 
bater and one of the most effective campaigners in Texas. He first 
attracted attention as a campaigner in the memorable prohibition Stale 
campaign in the eighties when, after a heroic struggle, he "went down 

I believe men can and should be just as honest 



on the losing side. 



- 

M «1 



232 BRIEF OUTLINES TO ATTORNEY McCAULEY. 

in politics as in business," is a favorite expression of his, and his vehe- 
ment attacks and scathing denunciations of those who, in his opinion, 
have not "toed the mark," politically, are worth going a good distance 
to hear. 

Assisted by some of his many white lawyer friends, Mr. McCauley 
read law in this city, and after passing "one of the best examinations 
ever passed in this city," was admitted to practice law. The applicant 
for license to practice law was examined in "open court" before Presid- 
ing Judge Eichard Morgan of the 44th Judicial District Court, by a 
special commission composed of the following three eminent lawyers: 
Judge W. J. J. Smith, formerly of the 14th Judicial District bench of 
Texas, but now attorney for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad 
Company ; Judge Charles T. Morriss, formerly of the Corporation Court 
of Dallas, now city auditor ; and Jefferson Word, Esq., a leading lawyer 
of the Dallas bar. It is said by competent judges that Mr. McCauley is 
a lawyer of exceptional ability, and it is with especial pride we reproduce 
here the comment of a learned Texas judge upon Mr. McCauley at the 
close of a trial conducted by him. 

Mr. McCauley addressed the Court as follows: "Now, may it please 
your honor ; I am about to leave the court room, and before doing so I 
wish to thank the Court and the attaches .of this court for the very 
kindly and courteous treatment accorded us during our labors here." 
"I am gratified at the favorable impression made upon me here today, 
and it will be lasting." 

Replying to these remarks, the Hon. L. W. Moore, presiding judge, 
said: "Yes; I had intended privately to thank and commend you for 
the very excellent manner in which you have conducted this case; but 
since you have taken occasion to interrupt the Court to thus express your 
appreciation of the treatment accorded you by and in this court, I shall 
now, in open court, that it may form part of the record of this court, say 
to you what I had intended to say to you privately. The Court wishes to 
thank you for the manly, able and at the same time courteous manner in 
which you have deported yourself in the conduct of this case." 

"In fidelity to your client, in ability and adroitness in the manage- 
ment of your case; and withal, your very excellent decorum, combine 
to make your labor here today exemplary, and the Court expresses the 
wish that your brethren at the bar, not only of your race, but of my own 
as well, will emulate the example which you have set here today." 

Turning in his chair so as to more directly face the bar, his honor, 
in a serio-comic vein, continued: "And particularly does the court 



BRIEF OUTLINES TO ATTORNEY McCAULEY. 233 

express this wish with reference to the bar of La Grange. In my long 
experience at the bar and on the bench, I have observed no man to 
appear to better advantage than you have in this case ; your management 
of the case, in fact, has been exemplar. And I want to say to you that no 
man could have gotten more out of it. And that you except to the 
judgment of the Court and give notice of appeal is but one of the evi- 
dences of the fallibility of the human mind, and is rather a good than 
a bad sign — rather to my liking than my disliking — when men differ 
properly and for good cause." 

Certainly these very flattering words of commendation, coining as 
they do ex cathedra, should be highly prized by every thoughtful mem- 
ber of the race of which Mr. McCauley is a worthy representative. 

Mr. McCauley is also a printer, and his pride in the fact is expressed 
by him in the following language: "I know of no more satisfactory 
way in which I can spend my leisure moments than by setting up my 
editorials for the Metropolitan." 




234 DAILY QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION 

DAILY QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION. 

Do I take advantage of opportunities ? 
Have I used my time to advantage? 
Am I ashamed of my daily life? 
Am I living right in God's sight? 
Am I virtuous, industrious and religious? 
Is my conduct always justifiable? 
Am I truthful and honest ? 
Am I economical? 

Do I do unto others as I would have them do to me? 
Am I envious? 

Do I dig ditches for my superiors simply because they are more suc- 
cessful than I? 

Do I see things in a broH common sense way? 
Am I worthy of emulation? 
Am I vigilantly striving to do my duty ? 
Am I living a Christian ? 

God ! grant that the Negro may 

Answer these questions in the right way, 

Before his building crumbles and falls 

And before the Death Angel calls; 

Help him to make his peace with Thee, 

Help him to prepare for eternity. 

For when diseases cannot be cured, 

When pains can no- longer be endured, 

When each individuality, 

Must put on immortality, 

It will be too late 

To correct a mistake; 

So help him to do the things that's right 

In Thy sight. 



■59T^" 



THOUGHTS FOR DIFFERENT NATIONS. 235 

THOUGHTS FOR DIFFERENT NATIONS. 

I will submit a few thoughts for other nations' consideration in the 
following arraignment: 

1. When judging the Negro, think of the frailties that bound 
humanity. 

2. Think whether the N"egro has been justly treated or not. 

3. Think of the horrible system of slavery. 

4. When you think of the Negro who has failed, think of the one 
who has succeeded. 

5. Think of the Negro's progress in every respect during the last 
thirty-eight years, and see if it is commensurate with his conditions 
and oppportunities. 

6. As you think of the 20,2G4 Negroes in the penitentiaries and 
county jails, think of the forty thousand who have graduated from 
schools, colleges and universities; and also their business enterprises, 
intellect and wealth. 

7. And then think of a method that will bring on a friendly rela- 
tion between us. 





236 



PROF. H. S. THOMPSON'S COMMENDATION. 



COMMENDATION. 



I have examined the "Mental and Moral Capsule for Solution of 
Eace Problem/' written by Mrs. Hall. She has chosen to write on that 
much discussed race problem; and I think she found a solution to it. 
At least, her work will assist those into whose hands it may fall to reach 
a solution of the so-called race problem. 

I find that it has been the purpose of Mrs. Hall, in writing this 




PROF. H. S. THOMPSON, A. M., 

Principal of Booker T. Washington 
City School, Dallas. Texas. 



little book, to reach the hearts of the girls of the race. May every 
girl copy after the ideal girl who reached the "pinnacle" of mental and 
moral excellence. Mrs. Hall is not alone when she says it would go a 
long way towards solving the race problem if the legislatures of the 
States would pass a law prohibiting idleness on the part ci the young of 
both races. I wish for this little book a great field of future usefulness. 



THE PARTING WORDS OF THE PUBLISHER. 



237 



THE PAETING WORDS OF THE PUBLISHER. 

Fearlessly and freely we launch this very important barque upon 
the main of mind. The demand of the times, grant a favorable gale 
of prestige, regardless of empty animadversion and clamorous applause, 
we feel that this particular volume will be helpful in the home life and 




REV. R. S. JENKINS, D. D., 
Presiding Elder of the Corsicana District A. M. E. Church 

and Publisher. 



of rhetoric in friction, touched with gilts of novelty simply to create a 
momentary impression. But herein the readers will find the solid un- 
varnished truth most helpful in these times of deceptive and pernicious 
subserve a good purpose. These pages are imi covered with the flowers 
literature, for it is not the desire of the author to glean flowers for a 



238 THE PARTING WORDS OF THE PUBLISHER. 

garland of fame, nor pander to the popular sentiment of the unthinking 
public of purulent execrescences of sorid soul and morbid minds, yet if 
a true, candid and enlightened criticism should prove the demolition of 
this volume, it would be preferable to have it thus perish, than to enter 
the homes of the readers on a useless errand and prove to be an errone- 
ous, deleterious production. Yet if in the main this volume receives the 
hypercritical carpings of the disappointed literary fop, or the supercili- 
ous snarl of those that could do better and have never made the effort, 
for all such we have sovereign contempt, fearing not the one, nor court 
the favor of the other, being assured that humanity will be benefited and 
blessed, also instructed in the conornics and the domestic life by reading 
this book which the author has spent money and more than three years 
time in the preparation, also the publisher has spared no pains in ob- 
taining pictures of persons and the publishing of the same. We therefore 
launch it, conscious of the fact of the mighty flood of various books and 
the indifference in the reception of them, believing Mrs. Josie B. Hall's 
book, Moral and Mental Capsule, for the economic and domestic life of 
the Negro as a solution of the race problem, to be a brilliant torch of 
wisdom, for eternal remembrance in the home life of our people, and if 
carefully read and adhered, will truly be a blessing of the greatest value, 
making the homes better, brighter and happier. 

CORRECTIONS. 

With a deep sense of justice to our Authoress, we note the cor- 
rections, such as the ages of Arella Theresa Hall, the baby not as yet 
a year old, and A. G. Hall, 5 years.— Page vi. "And cannot himself 
from her wean," to be omitted. — Page 68. Confusion, instead of "con- 
cusion." — Pape 117. " 'right to do right.'" And as some great power 
s< ized her tender mind, she has inwardly resolved to do right and many 
valuable thoughts." — Page 120. 

We apologize for the oversights and other typographical errors 
that may appear to the critical reading public; for it was not the fault 
of the authoress. Mrs. Hall has spent money and time to give the 
world her most valuable thoughts, and for this cause we make the po- 
lite, conscientious apology. 

Yours sincerely, R. S. JENKINS. 




W 6 5 










o 



• • » 



*6? 











°o 






« » 0j 










• «o 










•ay 

••no 9 4O ^A 

> » • • • *^ ^v ft™ • • - ^^ 











t*»9* 

v* • • • <0 O »o ■ T • A. jk * 



•^•/ v^V v^*> v^w / 









» ^ 



ft 9^>^ °J^w«w. % a v ^ -^S^o .^^. i&ffiam: tl '^P 



5 S ^ 



o>9^ 







r. ^o< •' 








o» • 












> ^* A 



••• 









^9^ 



lO* . 



"o, 






5^^ 










^ - < 



* ^ 





, • <VV 



V" .«••/ ^r\ ^v ^ •" «^ *=>, *•TV , .0"' * 



